Raise The Curtain
by Science-Fantasy93
Summary: Pop star Katie Knight is used to people getting starstruck by her. But when she meets James Diamond, a college student who doesn't care about who she is, she becomes intrigued by him. As they're pulled into each other's lives, they find themselves facing jealous exes, the Hollywood grapevine, & a scandal that could make or break Katie's career...& ruin her relationship with James.
1. Chapter 1 Tonight, Tonight

**Disclaimer: If I owned Big Time Rush, I probably wouldn't be writing Jatie stories right now. Or if I was, I'd be making tons of money off of them. So, I don't own Big Time Rush or anything recognizable in this story.**

**A/N: Those of you who have read my stories know that I write really long chapter/story notes, and this one is no exception. Basically, I really wasn't planning on posting a new story until I finished "Anywhere But Here", but I have this habit of starting new stories and getting a few chapters into them, before starting something else, and then they never get posted. So I thought I'd head my bad habits off early and go ahead and post this. Plus, I haven't really updated anything for a couple of weeks, and one of those reasons - besides holiday season - is that I've been working on new stories. Thus another reason to post this and give you guys a sample of why everything else is kind of in limbo right now. I'm sorry! And things will get updated eventually, I just need to find the willpower to work on them.**

**The basic idea for this story popped into my head a few months ago. The idea for it was pretty much just what you see in the first chapter, except it took place in Minnesota. I didn't do anything with it because I couldn't figure out the rest of the story, but the idea kept appearing in my head at the most random times. Meanwhile, I had been wanting to write a story where Katie's the pop star and James is just a regular guy who's into rock and not into the stuff Katie sings, and he ends up at a meet and greet through extenuating circumstances. The latter sounded a little too cliched so I disregarded it. But the two ideas meshed together one night and now we have this. The story opens up with a few different OCs mentioned. As much as I hate to bring OCs immediately into the story, it was kind of needed for the first chapter. If anyone's read what I have so far of "Pull The Trigger", then you'll recognize Shelby, who's James' younger sister in that story as well.**

**As always, I've gotta thank Dana2184 for reading the first chapter of this and immediately telling me that I better be writing more of it. So, I'm dedicating this story to her because she's always willing to read whatever crap I send her and she listens to me constantly whine about how James and Katie never do what I want them to and she's constantly pushing me to stretch my limits and to try out new pairings. Also, I'm hoping she's going to write something she just mentioned to me, so this is kind of a bribe because I'm not above that apparently.**

**Anyway, I think that's about all I have to say at the moment. If you managed to make it through the monstrous A/N, kudos to you and thanks!**

**Enjoy the first chapter! :)**

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**Chapter One – Tonight, Tonight**

**Katie's POV**

I loved nights like these.

The late summer air was warm, the sky a stretch of dark velvet above the Los Angeles skyline, and the lights of the old Diablo Theater twinkled down at us like glowing golden stars. It was beautiful.

In all honesty, I couldn't remember the last time I had left my house for something other than work, a dress fitting, a summer tour, or a movie premiere. It made kind of a nice change to come down here with a couple of people to watch a musical, even if those two people happened to be my manager and bodyguard. With any luck my actual friends would join us, but I wasn't hopeful. I knew Jo Taylor was currently filming her TV show, Camille Roberts was probably on set for the western she had been cast in, Lucy Stone was more than likely pulling an all-nighter in the recording studio, and Stephanie King was either working on a script or trying to convince one of the studios to let her make a movie already.

Ah, the hardships of a Hollywood lifestyle.

Cody and Elaine, my bodyguard and manager respectively, trailed behind me as I led the way towards the front doors, positively beaming. I had loved musicals growing up, and had begged my mom to take me to the ones that were performed in Minneapolis or St. Paul, depending on the theater. But it had been years since I had actually been to a play or a musical, and I was looking forward to it. Granted, it wasn't the happiest musical in the world – we were going to see Les Misérables – but just the idea of being inside a theater again – treading on the carpet, seeing the huge stage lit up, a spotlight following the performers around – was intoxicating.

I loved it.

Cody moved past me, placing his hand on my shoulder as we got in line at the door. He glanced around surreptitiously, and I fought back the urge to roll my eyes. He was just doing his job, just doing what he was paid to do, and I needed to remember that before I snapped at him. It was his job to throw himself between me and crazed fans, to ward off insane stalkers, to shove paparazzi out of the way whenever they tried to get too close to me. I had a huge personal bubble and if a pap broke through it to get to me, I would end up having a nervous breakdown.

That was another reason why Cody was so nice to have around. He kept anxiety meds on him at all times because he knew how nervous I got when people began pushing and shoving to get to me.

Just one of the perks of being an international pop star and actress at the ripe old age of eighteen, I guess. I loved it, but sometimes it got just the teeniest bit aggravating.

But tonight I was just a normal person – with a six-foot-five, three-hundred pound bodyguard – out to the theater. If anyone had looked at us, they would have never guessed that I had just released a chart topping album two months ago; that I had been on tour for most of the summer, and that in a couple of days I would be leaving LA to finish up the tour; that my latest single was currently number one on the pop charts; that I had a movie premiering in two months; that I was eighteen years old and almost too famous for my own good.

We moved through the line slowly, people glancing curiously at Cody and then at me, before shaking their heads. Either they thought we had one hell of a weird relationship, or they figured he was either my dad or my older brother. Considering the fact that he was fifteen years older than me and had fifteen inches on me, I couldn't blame them for any assumptions they were making.

"Are you sure this is what you want to do tonight?" Elaine asked me for the million and tenth time in the past twenty-four hours. "Because I can arrange for us to do something else if you want. I can get on the phone with Brenda and have her get us into a club or that new restaurant that just opened in SoHo, or – "

I held up my hand. "Trust me, Elaine, this is exactly what I want to do tonight. I don't want to be anywhere else in the world."

"All right," she relented with a deep sigh, clearly wondering if the tour and the movie combined had been too much and if I had cracked under such intense pressure. She had already asked me that several times in the past couple of days, and each time I had reminded her that the movie had been filmed months before the tour began, and that I was _fine_. But she still wasn't convinced. As far as she was concerned, young starlets and pop princesses were supposed to be out club hopping on Friday nights, not going to see Les Misérables at an old theater in a rundown part of Los Angeles.

What can I say? I was one of a kind. And I liked it that way.

I crossed my arms over my chest as the line moved up slightly. I hated standing still, not doing anything. It made me jittery and anxious, like I was being trapped in a glass box with no way out.

Just to occupy myself I pulled my phone out of my jeans pocket and checked to make sure no one had texted or called me. For once nothing but my phone's background looked back at me, and I couldn't decide if I was relieved or disappointed. I decided that I was relieved and slipped it back into my pocket as the line scooted up a little more. We reached the door a couple of minutes later and Cody passed the hostess our tickets. She explained how to get to the box seats – Elaine had bought the tickets, not me – and we hurried past her into the theater, each grabbing a program on the way in. We stopped by the restrooms before continuing on into the arena. We mounted the stairs and headed up to the box seats, quickly locating them.

I dropped into my seat, unbuttoning my coat and shrugging out of it. I set my purse down on the floor, and leaned against the cushions, sighing contentedly. While I would have preferred to be in one of the front rows, this worked just as well. I had brought binoculars, and was ready to curl up in my chair with only Elaine giving me a disapproving look, instead of the glares I would get if I did that in a floor seat.

I slid my phone out of my pocket once more and turned it on silent before dropping it into my purse and pulling out the binoculars, focusing my attention on the program. I flipped it open, reading about the origins of the musical – based off of the novel by Victor Hugo – and its reception.

"I could have found all this out just by looking on Wikipedia," Elaine griped, also looking through her program. "Gosh. I bet all the performers in this are going to be second rate amateurs."

I rolled my eyes. "You're a snob, you know that?"

"I only want what's best for you."

"You do?"

"Yes."

"Cool. Then stop complaining – it's giving me a headache."

She glared at me, but nevertheless made a huge production of zipping her lips shut. I smiled in satisfaction. Good.

Cody set his program down. "Well, I'm excited about this," he announced. "Beats trying to push back twelve year old girls any day."

I grinned. "I don't pay you to push back twelve year old girls."

"Damn straight. _You_ don't pay _me_, period. Your management does." He smiled at me, dark brown eyes twinkling. "So watch the sass."

"How do you watch sass?" I wanted to know. "Is there a special camera for that? Do you have it? Can I borrow it?"

"Not on my watch, little missy," he retorted. "But nice try."

My grin widened. Cody was always fun to have around when we weren't being attacked by a teenage mob. He was a bit like an overexcited Golden Retriever with a German Shepherd's growl. If you got on his bad side, you were screwed. But if he liked you, he would protect you 'til the very end. And I liked it that way.

Elaine got out her own binoculars, these ones opera glasses. I wondered if she knew the difference between musical theater and opera…

I glanced over at Cody and he shook his head, silently laughing. "Don't even try," he mouthed to me. "It's not worth it."

Nodding in agreement, I laid my program in my lap as the lights began to dim. A moment later, the theater's manager came on stage, the spotlight shining right on him, as he asked us to please put our phones on silent and to only use the exits if we had to leave or use the restroom. He proceeded to launch into an explanation about the musical and why they had decided to put it on here, now, at this very moment. I listened attentively, but couldn't stop myself from fidgeting, tapping my foot and drumming my fingers against my leg.

At last, he bowed himself off of the stage, the spotlight going dark.

There was thirty seconds of pitch black, silence falling over the theater as everyone waited with baited breath for what we knew was about to come.

And then the spotlight came on, blindingly white in the center of the stage, and Les Misérables had begun.

The musical was incredible. The acting was beyond amazing, and the song and dance numbers were performed above and beyond anyone's expectations. I was particularly impressed by the guy who played Marius. He had an unbelievable voice, and his acting range was enormous. And it didn't hurt that, from what I could tell, he was pretty cute as well. I doubted he was even that much older than me, but then again weren't the guys who played Marius usually relatively young?

Intermission arrived almost too soon, and I got to my feet, stretching out my cramped muscles.

"Restroom," Elaine mumbled as she stood up, tottering on her four inch heels, and I nodded in agreement. We made our way back down to the lobby and to the restrooms with Cody following closely behind. We did our business and washed our hands before walking back out.

"So, are you impressed with the performance yet?" I asked Elaine as we mounted the stairs.

"I suppose. It's not Broadway in New York, but then again, can you really compare a dilapidated theater to a gorgeous New York City Broadway stage?"

I rolled my eyes. Snob. "I really like who plays Marius," I commented.

"You know, the cast's names and pictures are in the program," Cody informed me. "So if you want to see what his name is and what he really looks like, you can."

Clearly I either hadn't chosen my words carefully enough, or I was completely see-through. Or maybe both. I wasn't sure how I felt about that.

He grinned at the confused look on my face. "Please. I've been your bodyguard for the past two years. I probably know you better than you know yourself by now."

"You know me way too well," I told him huffily. "Probably better than my own mother and brother."

"More than likely," he agreed with a casual shrug. "But hey, it comes in handy for when I think you're going to do something stupid."

I sputtered indignantly. "I never do anything stupid!"

"It would come in handy for if you ever decided to do anything stupid. You know, start acting your age."

"I don't really act any older than eighteen. I mean, I watch all the stupid teen dramas. I love the supernatural shows. I go to the movies whenever I can. I would love to have a year's supply of iTunes gift cards. I love shopping. I text a lot. And I make inappropriate comments about guys. Such as, if I had one night in my bed with the guy who plays Marius, I would make sure he left Cosette for good."

Elaine rolled her eyes, while Cody grinned widely. "Not bad, but you need to work on it. I've heard way worse from twelve year olds who don't even have access to HBO."

I stuck my tongue out at him and flounced back to my seat haughtily, plopping down and crossing my legs. I grabbed my program from where it had slipped to the floor and opened it, flipping to the cast pages. Elaine and Cody sat down on either side of me, Elaine crossing her legs as well, but in a more business like fashion, rather than like an irritated teenage girl.

"Found him yet?" Cody asked me, and I shushed him.

"Shut up, I'm looking." I scanned the first column, before moving onto the second. My eyes widened and I knew I had found him before I even saw the role he was playing. The picture was black and white, but I could see huge deep eyes, long lashes, fantastic cheekbones, a straight nose, and dark hair.

I scanned the little blurb, licking my lips as I read through it a little more closely.

"_James Diamond (Marius). Diamond's first onstage acting role was as the little drummer boy in the Chester Creek Community Center Christmas play in Chester Creek, Minnesota at the age of six. Since then, he has been acting and singing whenever he can; he was cast as Sky Masterson in 'Guys and Dolls' when he was in his junior year of high school, and played The Phantom in the Los Angeles College of the Performing Arts' production of 'Phantom of the Opera'. He is about to enter his junior year at LACPA, and he is looking forward to continuing to perform while still attending college._"

I laid the program down, biting my bottom lip as I stared at the picture. It sounded like he had been performing since he was little, like he knew exactly what it was that he wanted to do with his life. We had that much in common, at the very least. And he sang, danced, and acted, all of which I did. Not that it really mattered, it was just kind of cool that we had that in common since I was waiting for him – and his cast mates – to return to the stage. And I hoped it would be soon. I was starting to get anxious. Again.

At last, the lights dimmed pitch black, and the spotlight shone like a golden orb on the stage, a full moon on a dark winter night.

The musical began again, and I relaxed in my seat, getting back into the story, the acting, and the song and dance numbers.

Les Misérables eventually ended, the audience rising to their feet in a standing ovation as the cast came back out in pairs to bow together, before returning in one huge group, spreading out across the stage, hands clasped in each other's and dipping down in one sweeping wave. I cheered, letting out a couple of whoops, and the guy who played Marius – James Diamond – glanced up in my direction.

Even from here, I could almost feel his eyes sweeping the crowd, searching for me. My heart thudded loudly against my rib cage like a bass line, my breath catching in my throat with a sharp gasp, and it was several seconds before I realized that there was no way he was going to be able to see me. The audience would be nothing but a black mass to him, not with those lights pointed in his face. But the sensation that he was looking for me was still unnerving, yet…intoxicating. Intense. Mind blowing. Enthralling.

Oh boy.

Was it possible to have a celebrity crush on someone who wasn't even a celebrity?

Deciding I would ponder that question later, I watched as the cast turned one by one and dashed backstage. Shaking myself out of the self-induced dazed I had ended up in, I turned to Elaine as the lights came blaring back on.

I tugged on Elaine's suit jacket to get her attention, and she turned to me questioningly. "Yes?"

"Can we go backstage?"

She and Cody exchanged looks, before she asked, "Why?"

I shrugged. "You know, I've just never really been backstage of a play or a musical production like this. It'd be a new experience."

"Uh huh." A skeptical look flashed across her face, but nevertheless she got on the phone with the theater's manager after digging up his number. After a hurried conversation, she hit the call end button on her Smart Phone and smiled at me. "Not a problem. He told me to just turn left once we get to the lobby and we'll be behind the stage pretty quickly."

"Okay." I smiled back. "Thanks."

"Not a problem." Clutching her phone, she led the way out of the box and down the stairs. We were swept up in the crowd, and Cody immediately grabbed mine and Elaine's hands to keep us from being separated. He yanked us to the side until the worst of the flood of people had disappeared out the front door, before hauling us in the direction of what I figured were the dressing rooms.

Just as we reached an arched doorway, a middle aged man stepped out from what appeared to be an office. "Hi. I'm George Tucker, the Diablo Theater manager. I believe we spoke on the phone?" he added to Elaine, holding out his hand to her.

She nodded and placed her hand in his, shaking it politely. "Elaine Stravinsky. I'm Katie Knight's manager," she added, resting her hand momentarily on my shoulder, before jerking her thumb at Cody. "And this is Cody Wiler, Katie's bodyguard. Katie was hoping to go backstage to see what it was like, and possibly to meet one of the cast members."

"I didn't say I wanted to meet one of the cast members," I whined, my cheeks flushing what I was sure was a bright red.

"It's called reading between the lines, dear," Elaine informed me, patting my shoulder before looking at Mr. Tucker expectantly. "On the phone you said it wouldn't be a problem."

"And it won't be. I just thought that perhaps I could show you around personally. Now, which actor did you want to meet?" he asked me accommodatingly.

"Um…the one who plays Marius. James Diamond or something like that. I was really impressed with his performance!" I added quickly.

Elaine, Cody, and Mr. Tucker all raised their eyebrows at each other, and I groaned. "Okay, this isn't really that big of a deal. Can't I extend professional courtesy to him?"

"Of course you can," Mr. Tucker assured me. "Follow me, Miss Knight." He waved me forward, and I trotted after him, hurrying to match his long stride. Cody kept a few footsteps behind me, while Elaine strolled along after us, holding her phone up, fingers flying across the touch screen. It was amazing she didn't run into a wall or a door or crash into a window.

As we walked, Mr. Tucker pointed out props and racks of clothes. I nodded, asking questions and thinking that if I had known I was going to have to run a 5K marathon I would have worn my Converse, rather than open toed boots. Would it kill him to slow down enough for us short people to keep up with him? Because seriously, by the time I actually got meet James Diamond, I was going to be so winded I wouldn't even be able to get an "uhhh" out.

At last, he stopped in front of one of the dressing room doors. There was a cut out gold star taped to the top, with "James Diamond" scrawled across it in a neat signature.

"Will he still be in?" I asked, a little nervously. "I mean, he might have already gone home…"

"Nah, he's probably just winding down from the performance," Mr. Tucker said. "With any luck his makeup's off and he's in his street clothes. He should be by now." And with that statement, he raised his fist and knocked hard twice on the door.

"Yeah?" A young man's voice called, and Mr. Tucker replied,

"I have a few people here to see you. They were in the audience," he added hastily. "Is it okay if they come in?"

"As long as they're not the FBI or mobsters, by all means," James called back, and I giggled quietly. I liked him already. Like I hadn't before.

A moment later, the door swung open and a tall young man stood there, even better looking than he was in his picture. James Diamond was easily 6'1, with green-gold-hazel eyes, chestnut brown hair, and a body to rival the guys' from _Teen Wolf_.

My eyes widened as I took him in, and my mouth went desert dry, my throat following suit. I had the distinct feeling that I was star struck, although I wasn't completely sure why. I mean, he wasn't a celeb. He wasn't famous. He wasn't in my favorite movies, and he wasn't my favorite singer. He was just some guy who had been in a musical I had just seen.

That didn't explain why it felt like my heart was trying to leap into my throat, frog style. I really would have loved an explanation for that, but something told me it wasn't going to be happening anytime soon.

James blinked at us, eyes flitting over me and brightening momentarily with vague recognition. I could already guess what was going through his mind. I looked familiar, he had seen me somewhere before, but he couldn't quite place me. He wasn't a fan.

My spirits dropped slightly, before I reminded myself that that didn't necessarily mean that he didn't like my music or acting. He just maybe hadn't heard or seen anything I had sung or filmed. It was a perfectly logical explanation, and there was no reason to sulk when I hadn't even known he was alive up until two hours ago.

"Is there something I can do for you?" James asked politely, leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed. He was in what looked like a concert t-shirt for some band I had never heard of, jeans that fitted him just a little too well for my comfort, and Converse high tops. Handmade bracelets dangled from his wrists, and I wondered vaguely where he had gotten them, if he had bought them or if someone had made them for him.

Elaine elbowed me in the ribs, and I stepped forward, squeaking out, "Um, yeah! Hi! I just wanted to say that you were really amazing tonight. I mean," I blushed again when James raised an eyebrow in amusement, "from one performer to another. You were awesome. Seriously. You were."

"You're a performer?" James asked, straightening up in interest. "Anything I might have seen or heard of?"

I shrugged. "I was in _These Days Are Ours_."

"Oh, you're an actress."

"And a singer," I added. "I'm Katie Knight."

Usually when someone hears my name, they either pause for a moment before saying, "Wait, aren't you the one who sings _Everyone but You_? I keep hearing that song on the radio!" or they squeal and scream, "Oh my gosh, I love you so much! You're, like, my idol! Can I have your autograph? Pleeaasse?"

James didn't do either of those things. He surveyed me for a long pause, before nodding. "Oh, okay, I know who you are. My little sister loves your music. She's going to your concert here in LA on the 28th."

Oh. Well. Okay. It was cool that his sister was a fan – hey, the more people who listened to my music, the better – but it was kind of a bummer because that meant that in his mind I would be the annoying pop star who his sister listened to as a pre teen or a teenager. I had a friend who's younger sister listened to Taylor Swift on repeat, and he couldn't stand her music now.

I must have been frowning, because he said quickly, "Not that there's anything wrong with your music. It's just not my style. No offense. I'm just more into rock."

I almost spluttered out, "You're in Le Mis! That's not exactly Van Halen."

Both of his eyebrows shot up, and his body tensed slightly. "Do you sing all the different types of music that you listen to?"

"Well…no…"

"Exactly. It's the same thing."

"No, no, I know that, I get it, I was just – I mean, my music's pop rock. I'm not into people saying that my music isn't rock enough for them."

"It's just not my style," James shrugged. "I mean, from what I've heard you've got some catchy stuff. Just not hard enough. You've got an awesome voice, though. And I promise I'm not trying to insult your music," he added. Apparently I had my bitch-eating face on, which wouldn't have surprised me, because my arms were crossed as well and my lips were pursed tightly, a sure sign that I was about to go on the attack. "I mean – wow, there is really no way to go back from that, is there?"

"Not really. And to think, I was trying to be nice."

"I'm sorry," he said genuinely. "I really wasn't trying to be insulting. It's just been a really long day – a long past few months – and I'm exhausted. I wasn't thinking about what I was saying. Forgive me? Please?"

I hesitated, before nodding. "Okay. You're forgiven. But only because you can sing really well."

He grinned. "Thanks. And like I said, so can you."

"Thanks."

There was another long pause. "Um, could I ask a favor of you?"

I eyed him. "What?"

"Could I get an autograph? For my sister," he clarified when my own eyebrows skyrocketed. "Shelby. She's fourteen and thinks you're the greatest thing that's ever lived. She's going to flip when she hears that I met you and then she's going to kill me when she hears that I insulted you. So could you please sign something for her? It might make my murder a little less painful."

I laughed, before nodding. "Sure. What do you want me to sign?"

He waved me into the room, glancing at Elaine and Cody, both of whom stayed on the other side of the threshold with Mr. Tucker.

I glanced around the dressing room curiously as he rummaged around. He had a dressing table, a clothes rack, and a couch, with a couple of posters for Simple Plan and Thousand Foot Krutch hanging on the wall. Nothing fancy, nothing elaborate, but kind of cozy in a weird way.

James passed me a notebook and a pen.

"Anything in particular I should write?" I asked him as I placed the notebook on the dressing table, poising the pen over the paper.

"Um…maybe something like, 'Please don't kill James because he'd really like to live to see his 21st birthday.' Or, you know, whatever you're comfortable with."

I grinned and scribbled something down, before passing it to him.

"Thanks." He glanced down at the notebook and his eyes widened. "Um…You make a very convincing argument for why I shouldn't be killed."

"Yeah, I thought so too."

"'_I know your brother's a jerk, but he's cute and one day you'll be able to get him back by flirting with his friends. Hope you have an awesome summer, and an amazing time at the concert! Lots of love, Katie Knight._' Yeah, I don't think she'll kill me now."

"Good," I said in satisfaction. "Which row is she in?"

"Like the third? I think. I just know she has VIP, so you'll get to meet her."

"Awesome, I'll be on the lookout for her."

He nodded, rubbing the back of his neck. "Well, thanks for stopping by."

"Thanks for opening the door. It was nice meeting you."

"Yeah, you too." He held out his hand to me and I placed mine in his. Our fingers entwined, and it was like a spark of electricity shot through me, deep and raw and powerful and scarily intense. James' and my eyes locked, his burning into mine, and it was like my throat was closing up, breathing no longer being an option.

"The theater's officially closing at eleven," Mr. Tucker coughed out. "And it's 10:55 now…"

I pulled back from James, stuffing my hands in my coat pocket. "We'll get out of your hair. Thanks again, both of you." I glanced at James, and he nodded curtly at me, his own hands in his jeans pockets.

I hurried past him and out the door, feeling like I couldn't get far enough away from him, but also noticing the way my stomach clenched as the door closed behind me.

I grabbed Elaine and Cody and dragged them outside, my head spinning.

I had no idea what had just happened, but I knew one thing.

I wanted to see James Diamond again. And badly.

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**So, that was the first chapter...Did you love it? Hate it? Like it? Want to read more? Want to shake your head at it? If you could take a moment to review and let me know what you thought of the chapter, I will love you forever! And thank you for taking the time to read the first chapter of a story that's probably going to be a little nuts. It means the world to me :)**


	2. Chapter 2 Situation Infatuation

**Disclaimer: I don't own Big Time Rush or anything recognizable, like the chapter title, which is the title of Eve 6's song "Situation Infatuation".**

**InLogansBed: I love your name :) Thank you so much, I'm so happy you enjoyed it! Hopefully this chapter will be funny and adorable as well. Thank you for taking the time to read and review, I really appreciate it.**

**TeamCarlexa: Whoo hoo for Carlexa! Thanks! I'm glad you liked it :) I'll definitely do my best. Thank you for taking the time to read and review, it's much appreciated :)**

**Guest: Thank you :) Let's hope it lives up to that! And thank you for reading and reviewing, I mega appreciate it.**

**btrfanfiction1516: I hope this story lives up to that praise! Thank you so much for taking the time to read and review, I always love hearing from you :)**

**Stydia5ever: Stydia fan, huh? They're my favorite pairing from "Teen Wolf" :) Aww, thank you so much for saying all that! Well, there will be drama so some not-so-great stuff will happen. I hope that doesn't put you off from this story! And thank you for taking the time to read and review, I really appreciate it :) **

**ThatOneKid: Aww, thanks for saying that! I didn't really like Elaine at first either, but by the end of the first chapter she had grown on me. Thanks! Banter's always fun to write so I'm glad you liked it :) Thank you for reading and reviewing, it's much appreciated.**

**FandomWhore: Thank you so much! I can only hope that this story lives up to that praise. Good question! Kendall and the other guys will be in it, though they won't be making appearances until the third and fourth chapters. Thank you for taking the time to read and review, I very much appreciate it :)**

**CantStopTheLove: Thank you very much :) Well, I wouldn't go that far...*modest shrug*. But seriously, thank you for reading and reviewing! I really appreciate it!**

**Um, wow. Thank you so much to everyone who read, followed, favorited, and reviewed! You guys completely blew me away with the response to the first chapter! You guys are amazing :) *Virtual hugs to everyone reading this*.**

**A/N: So, here's chapter two. It takes place three weeks after the first chapter, and it's entirely from James' POV. Like I said in a review reply, Kendall, Logan, and Carlos will be in this story, but they won't appear until the third and fourth chapters, simply because there wasn't room for them in this one. But once they show up, they'll be in the story a lot more. :) Also, the chapter titles will mostly be from songs - show tunes, rock, and pop. :)**

**Enjoy the chapter :)**

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**Chapter Two – Situation Infatuation**

**James' POV**

I pulled up in front of my mom's house and cut the ignition, swinging out of my Dodge Ram pickup and slamming the door shut, clicking the lock button and hearing the _beep_ as the truck sealed itself.

I walked up the front path to the front door. I unlocked the door and stepped inside, kicking my sneakers off and calling out, "Mom? Shelby? Anyone home?"

Mom walked out of the kitchen, drying her hands on a dishtowel and smiling at me. "Hey, sweetie. You get signed up for classes?"

"Yeah. And about time, I was afraid I might not be able to, I'm getting in so late this year."

"Well, you've been busy with Le Mis," she pointed out. "Speaking of, Shelby wants to know if you've seen Katie Knight since the night she came to see the performance."

I groaned. "She's going to keep asking me that, isn't she?"

"Yep. Although, at least you only have a couple more days until closing night."

"Yeah." I nodded. "It'll be nice to relax for a few weeks before classes start back up."

"Oh, I'm sure. And, you know, there are quite a lot of things you can do to relax."

I raised an eyebrow, already getting the feeling that she was about to wrangle me into something. "Such as?"

"Such as, say, spending more time with your little sister. At a Katie Knight concert. This Saturday."

"You have got to be kidding me."

"Nope." She popped the P. "I just found out ten minutes ago that I can't make it – I'm needed that night at work."

I sighed deeply. Mom worked as a designer for a huge clothes and cosmetics line, and she was the best one on their team – they were always calling her into work even when someone else could do her job at least halfway as well. It was annoying at the best of times, and right now it was just downright aggravating.

"Mom," I began. "I appreciate yours and Shelby's predicament, but I _really_ don't want to go to a Katie Knight concert. And I _really_, _really_ don't want to meet her again."

"Why not?" she asked. "You said she was nice."

"Yeah, but we didn't exactly see eye to eye on music. And I told her I wasn't going to her concert."

"So, when you get your picture taken with her, tell her your mother made you."

"And besides," I plowed on, ignoring her argument, "I don't even like her music. Why couldn't Shelby be into Simple Plan or Three Days Grace?"

"I guess she just gets her music taste from me," Mom quipped. "Considering the fact that I can't stand your music most of the time."

"Fair enough."

"Anyway, would it kill you to put up with Katie's music for a night? I mean, you met the girl, insulted her, and got her autograph – "

"For _Shelby_!"

" – and it's not like I'm asking you to go as a hardcore fan. As one of her – whatever the hell her fan base calls themselves."

"Purple Sparklers," I gritted out.

Mom paused. "How on earth do you know that?"

"Please, Katie is everywhere nowadays. And besides, Shelby is obsessed with her. Can't we just get her hooked on some pop boy band? There are enough of them nowadays, it's like being back in the late '90s and early 2000s."

"Considering you were in your early years at elementary school in the late '90s and early 2000s, I highly doubt you would know that," Mom retorted. "In any case, Katie is Shelby's favorite singer, and we would both appreciate it very much if you would respect that, especially since you actually met the girl."

I shoved my hands in my jeans pocket, looking down at the ground ashamedly.

"That's what I thought. Now, please go upstairs and tell Shelby that you'll be able to take her to the concert."

"Are you sure you can't have someone else take her?"

"I'm positive."

"What about one of her friends from school?"

"I am not letting Shelby loose in the Globalnet Sanyoid Center with Erica Crosse or Alyssa Miles."

"Why not? They're nice girls for fourteen year olds."

"Erica shoplifts and Alyssa has had more boyfriends than most of the women my age."

"Then it's a really good thing they're not going to go see a boy band. Erica might try to shoplift one of the band members and Alyssa would probably do her best to make him her boyfriend."

Mom crossed her arms over her chest. "You're taking Shelby or else you're on your own with college tuition."

"Mo-om! That's not fair!" I wailed, ignoring the fact that I sounded like my little sister when Mom told her she couldn't get the new Katie Knight lip gloss or the crop top she had been eyeing at the mall. "College is pretty much a necessity, while going to see the Katie Knight concert isn't."

"James, this is something I need you to do, the same way you need me to help you pay for college. I'm not entrusting your little sister with Erica or Alyssa's families. Their parents are irresponsible and don't give a flying fuck about their daughters. And the girls are horrible influences. You're the only one who I would let take Shelby into a crowded amphitheater for a pop concert. But if you won't take her, then I'm out of a couple hundred bucks, and while I can get a refund, I can't get a refund on disappointing your sister. So unless you want to live with the guilt and knowledge that you let her down, you'll take her."

I gaped at her, completely speechless, and not just because I had just heard my own mother utter the words "flying fuck". She actually made a valid point, one hell of a guilt trip, and a personality compliment, all in the same speech. It was sort of amazing, actually. I wasn't sure I had ever heard a more convincing argument in my entire life. Especially since I was now picturing Shelby's sad face when Mom broke the news to her.

She was right. I couldn't do that to my sister.

Sighing, I nodded. "Yeah, okay. I'll do it. I'll go tell her."

"Good." Mom beamed at me and kissed my cheek. "I knew you'd say yes. And when this is all over, you'll definitely get the prize for being the Big Brother of the Year."

"Yeah, I'm not holding my breath," I shot back as I headed for the stairs. I took them two at a time and headed down the hall to Shelby's room.

Her door was open, and I could see her sitting at her desk with iTunes open and the cover of Katie Knight's latest single enlarged on the screen.

I knocked on the open door, hoping to get her attention. She jumped in her seat and quickly hit pause. "Hey," she greeted me as I walked into her room. "What's up?"

"You know Mom isn't going to be able to take you to the Katie Knight show, right?" I asked as I sat down on her bed.

Shelby nodded, face falling slightly. "But she said she was going to try to find someone to take me."

"I'm going to be taking you."

"Um. What?"

Okay, not the overwhelming enthusiasm I was going for, but I guess I could work with that. Maybe.

"I'm taking you to the concert."

"Uh, no you're not." Shelby got to her feet. "I mean, no offense, you're really cool considering you're in college and are, like, old, but I really don't want you taking me."

"Why not?" I wanted to know, a little hurt and definitely very offended. I was twenty, not eighty! I wasn't _old_!

"Because, you met her, and you insulted her music. She called you a jerk in her autograph to me. If you could spew whatever it was that you spewed when she came to your dressing room to compliment you, I don't even want to think about what you'd say at the meet and greet."

"I'd probably behave myself, considering she'd have way more security there."

Shelby threw me a glare. "Yeah, you're not helping your case."

"Look, Mom told me that she doesn't trust you to go with anyone but me, so I'm taking you whether you want me to or not. Well, either that, or else you're not going."

Shelby stuck her bottom lip out in a pout, arms crossed, before she made a mad dash for the stairs, hollering, "_MOM_!" at the top of her lungs. I was pretty sure people had heard her in San Diego.

I chased after Shelby, almost crashing into her when she stopped abruptly at the bottom of the stairs, glaring furiously at Mom.

"I can't believe this!" she screamed, stamping her foot. "You're ruining my life!"

And I had thought she was so well behaved for a fourteen year old girl. Clearly I was wrong.

"How am I ruining your life now?" Mom asked, rubbing her temples. "If this has anything to do with that push up bra you wanted, you're too young – "

Shelby's cheeks fired up while I stared at her. "Why the hell do you want a push up bra? Do you know what guys think when they see a girl with their chest pushed up to their chin?"

"Oh my gosh, this isn't about the push up bra!" she cried. "This is about James taking me to the concert!" She paused, before looking back at me. "Wait, you actually stare at girls' chests?"

It was my turn to flush. "Moving on past the whole push up bra thing!"

"You perv!" Shelby spun on her heel and smacked my chest. "Is that why Katie didn't like you? Were you staring at her chest?"

I rolled my eyes. "Believe it or not, I do have self control. It's not like I screw every girl I run into."

"EEEEWWWW!" she hollered, clapping her hands over her ears. "LALALALALA I CAN'T HEAR YOU! MOM!" she added, letting her hands fall to her sides. "You can't possibly make me go to the show with this perv. What if he stares at Katie's chest?"

"Don't stare at Katie's chest," Mom told me mildly, before checking her phone. "Anyone want spaghetti and meatballs for dinner?"

"Please, she was totally checking me out," I rolled my eyes.

"I doubt it. I'm pretty sure her taste is way better than that. I mean, she dated Dak Zevon last year."

"That poor girl."

"Hey, Dak's hot!"

"He looks like a Ken Doll."

"He's hot."

"Ken Doll."

"Hot."

"Ken Doll."

"Hot!"

"Ken Doll!"

"HOT!"

"KEN – "

"James, Shelby, knock it off!" Mom snarled, stepping between us. "Shelby, your brother is taking you to the concert, male tendencies or not. And James, stop traumatizing your sister, it's not nice."

"We really need another guy in the family," I mumbled.

Shelby scowled at me and stomped up the stairs, making sure we knew just how furious and wronged she was.

I turned back to Mom. "She started it, not me. I'm actually pretty much innocent in this."

Mom sighed. "She's going through that phase where she doesn't want to be seen with us. She'll grow out of it. Probably."

"Oh, goody."

"Hey, you did."

"I was never like that."

"Uh, I beg to differ, young man. You were always sooo embarrassed when I would drop you off at school, at the movies, or at the arcade. You once told me that if I came into the movie theater with you that you would literally melt into a puddle of embarrassment and ooze into the carpet, never to be seen again."

"Oh." So much for that argument. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it…I don't think…You know I love you."

"I know you do, sweetie," she assured me, smiling as she hugged me. "But my point is, it's part of growing up. And you did grow out of it. We just need to wait for Shelby to get out of it."

"Well, I hope it'll be soon. I was really looking forward to that Big Brother of the Year award."

Mom chuckled. "I'm sure you'll get it after the concert. Anyway, you should probably brush up on your Katie Knight songs."

"Yay…" Shaking my head, I made my way back up the stairs, bypassing Shelby's now closed door, and instead continued on to my room. I slammed the door shut and collapsed on my bed, letting out a deep breath. There was a very good reason for why I didn't want to go to the concert and have to see Katie again. And that was because, well…I was embarrassed.

Not just embarrassed. Going crazy. Not only had I insulted Katie (which was Shelby's favorite thing to remind me of, even three weeks later), but I was also kind of…interested…in her. Not like the way you might be interested in a historical figure like George Washington or Marie Antoinette, but like…well…kind of like a celebrity crush. Only it was more than that. I couldn't get the split second where our fingers had locked out of my head. It just kept playing and playing over and over in my mind, until I was pretty sure that the Crazy Train to Loonyville would be making a pit stop in my bedroom any moment.

The fact was, Katie was gorgeous. She was beautiful and talented and funny, with an actual personality, not just the cardboard persona her publicity team had dreamt up for her. I had liked her, and I had wanted to talk to her more but Mr. Tucker had interrupted the moment, and then she had practically run out of the room like her jeans were on fire. Considering it had happened right after we had shook hands, I was hoping desperately that that meant that she had felt the spark, the connection, the chemistry, whatever the hell it had been. But I wasn't about to put any money on it. She met hundreds of guys every day when she was on tour, and there was no way in hell she was going to put any stock in a two second handshake she had had with some college aged guy who had been in a musical she had attended. She had probably completely forgotten about it, and in reality it was for the best. I wasn't a fan of hers, and she thought I was a jerk.

That being said, I really didn't want to have to face her after all that. If she didn't remember me, then I would have to deal with the disappointment with knowing how bad her short term memory really was. And if she did remember me, then I would have to A) explain why I was there when I had already told her I wouldn't be going, and B) have to hope that it really had been the intense chemistry and not my body odor or breath that had sent her running.

In my defense, I had just spent the past two hours on stage, dancing and running around like a maniac, and I hadn't gotten the chance to shower. I had sprayed some cologne on to cover the worst of the smell before I went back out into the world of Regular People, but that didn't mean shit. So she had probably run for it because I had reeked of sweat. I mean, when you smell like a gym, girls aren't usually going to stay around to chat.

And then there was the fact that no matter what it had been, the fact remained that I still had made a lousy first impression on her. Shelby had the autograph to prove it. But at least Katie thought I was cute. That was something…right? Or was it better to be called _hot_? Yeah, it was definitely better to be called _hot_…_Cute_ was what you called your new puppy. _Hot_ was what you called the guy you wanted to fuck in the shower.

Great. I was a fucking Golden Retriever puppy.

Un-fucking-believable.

It was official. I had horrible luck with girls. I either attracted bitches, sluts, or bitchy sluts, and the girls I was actually interested in always seemed to see me as just a friend or like an older brother.

And this was just another example of that.

I was so screwed.

I really hated my life sometimes.

Grabbing my iPod off of my nightstand, I slipped my earbuds in and blasted Breaking Benjamin until my mom came bursting into my room to let me know that dinner was ready. I powered down the MP3 player and set it aside, heading down to the kitchen.

Even though we had an actual dining room, and not just an extension of the living room, we never ate in there unless it was Thanksgiving, Christmas, or we had guests. The kitchen was big enough that all three of us could squeeze in at the small, round wooden table easily and it was just more convenient to eat in there, so that we didn't have to shuffle dishes back and forth between two different rooms, through the swinging door that separated them.

Mom was standing at the stove, stirring the spaghetti sauce. "Oh good. Shelby should be storming down here any second. I interrupted her chatting with one of her friends on Facebook."

"Oh, the horror," I mock gasped.

"I know!"

We shared a fake horrified look, before she pointed to the cabinet over the counter. "You can put plates and glasses on the table, and Shelby will do the silverware and napkins when she FINALLY GETS DOWN HERE!" Mom raised her voice pointedly, angling towards the doorway, and a moment later Shelby huffed in.

"I'm here."

"All hail Princess Shelby!" I mock bowed, before ushering her over to the cutlery drawer. I opened the cabinet and pulled out plates and glasses.

"Shut up, peasant," she retorted. "When are you going back to school again?"

"In about three weeks."

"And when are you moving back to school?"

"In two."

"Hmmph."

"What'd I say now?"

"Nothing."

"Well, I must have said something," I commented as we moved around the table, setting our designated items on each placemat. "Otherwise you wouldn't look like someone had just pulled your hair."

"I said, it's nothing. Anyway, we have to talk about the concert."

"If you're going to tell me I'm not going – "

"No, it's something else. Well, a couple of other things."

Mom set the food on the table and we all sat down, dishing our plates up with salad, spaghetti, and garlic bread.

"Okay, talk," I said to Shelby as I dumped dressing over my salad and took a bite.

"Okay, first of all, you need to know all of Katie's song lyrics so that you can sing along."

Mom grinned, twirling some noodles around her fork before shoving them into her mouth. "I told him he should."

"Good. You'll probably have more fun and be less of a mope if you can sing along."

"Who says _mope_ anymore?" I wanted to know.

"And second, you need to listen to Melody5."

"I just know I'm going to regret this…What the fuck is a Melody5?"

"It's the boy band who's opening up for Katie. They're really good."

"Even better than One Direction?"

She shot me a look, before stuffing a bite of spaghetti into her mouth. "Anyway, you should at least listen to their single. Oh, and we need to talk about what we're going to get at the merch stand."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold up there!" I raised a hand. "Who said anything about buying stuff at the merch stand?"

"I did. Just now. I have stuff I need, James."

"Like?"

"Like, a concert t-shirt, and maybe a sweatshirt. Oooh, and her lip gloss line. Oh, and her nail polish."

I groaned. "Mom, please tell me I don't have to pay for that."

"You don't, I'll give you extra money to cover yours and Shelby's expenses."

"Good. Because there is no way I'm forking out fifty fucking dollars for lip gloss."

"Language. And that's good to know. Anyway, I have a couple of rules for you two."

"Such as?" I raised an eyebrow. I wasn't exactly the irresponsible twenty year old college guy some people seemed to think I was, so I wasn't sure why she was giving me rules to follow.

"Such as going to an after party, or hanging around to see Katie again. No trying to break into her tour bus," she added with a warning look aimed in Shelby's direction.

"We won't," I promised, not mentioning that by that point I would probably just want to get the hell out of there anyway.

"Good," Mom said, looking appeased. "And make sure Shelby doesn't blow all her money on lip gloss. And be very careful – there will probably be predators hanging around the Center, so make sure she has pepper spray. And maybe I should get you some as well…"

"Mom, I'm almost 6'2. I doubt anyone's going to be messing with Shelby if she's with me."

"It still doesn't hurt to be safe."

I sighed, nodding. I got her point. Pop concerts were notorious for rapists and molesters coming out of the shadows for the night. "Okay, we'll keep pepper spray on us."

"And a rape whistle," Mom added. "Just to make sure. Actually, she should probably be carrying that on her anyway. After all, LA isn't exactly the safest place in the world."

"Hellooo, I'm right here!" Shelby cried. "You don't need to talk about me like I'm not even here!"

"Sorry, honey," Mom said to her, while I just rolled my eyes.

Shelby scowled, taking a bite of salad.

I finished my food, gulping down my glass of water before taking my dishes to the sink. I rinsed them off and placed them in the dishwasher before heading out of the kitchen and up the stairs. I locked myself in my room, grabbing my laptop from my desk and collapsing on my bed. Once I was propped up against my pillows, I placed my computer in my lap.

I clicked into the internet browser and paused, my fingers hovering uncertainly over the keyboard. What the hell was I doing?

The answer was simple: Doing research. If I was going to be dragged to a Katie Knight concert, then I might as well learn as much about her as I possibly could without my brain exploding.

Steeling myself, I typed "Katie Knight Twitter" into the Google search bar and hit enter. A moment later, her twitter popped up as the top result, and under that one was a Katie Knight Concert twitter. There was a long list of other sites for her – Wikipedia, a couple of fan sites, and her biography on IMDB.

I directed the mouse to the link to her twitter and clicked the right button, watching as the page loaded.

A moment later, I was staring at Katie Knight's twitter page. Her twitter handle was simple, just simply _at_ _KatieKnight_, but her display picture was a glossy headshot with long curls spilling down over her shoulder and a coy smile on her face, eyes lowered modestly. I wasn't positive, but I was pretty sure I was looking at the cover for her latest single "All I Want". I'd heard it a couple of times on the radio but had changed the station the second I recognized it.

In all honesty, it was a good picture, but it was a little too gleaming and Photoshopped for my taste.

Shaking my head, I scrolled through her tweets, scanning over them. Most of them were just basic ones like, "_Whoo hoo! The show in San Antonio was incredible! Thank you, Texas!_" and "_Heading to the gym. I. Need. COFFEE!_"

But one particular tweet a ways down, dated August 1st, caught my eye. "_Saw Le Mis tonight! Incredible with an amazing (and hot!) cast!_"

I let out a deep breath as I stared at the tweet, completely speechless.

The first of August was the day she had come to see Les Misérables, the day we had met. Not that it really mattered that she had given the show a shout out, because I knew from checking out the hash tag #lesmiserables that a lot of people had come to see it and enjoyed it. Even a couple of other celebrities had mentioned the show in their tweets and Facebook posts, so it wasn't a huge deal that Katie had.

No. What was a huge deal, however, was the fact that she had made a point of complimenting the cast and even adding that we were hot. Or was it just me?

Biting my bottom lip, I grabbed my phone and dialed Mr. Tucker's number. He answered on the second ring. "Hey, James, what can I do for you?"

"I have kind of a random question."

"Okay. What is it?"

"When Katie Knight came to the show, did she ask to see any of the other cast members?"

"Nope," he replied, popping the P. "Just you. Between you and me, she seemed _extremely_ interested in meeting you, even though she really didn't want to admit it."

"O-okay," I managed to get out, my voice shaking slightly. "Okay, cool. Thanks."

"Why?"

"Oh, just needed something to shut Shelby up for five minutes. Talk to you later."

"Yeah…talk to you later…"

I ended the call and laid my phone down, running my fingers through my hair. Guess maybe Katie was interested in me after all…This was going to be interesting.

* * *

**I've long since figured out that I don't have any control over James and Katie. That being said, I didn't plan to end the chapter this way - but James had other ideas. So if this chapter wasn't as good as the first, blame him. Kay? Okay.**

**Thank you for reading, and please review! Reviews make a fanfiction writer very, very happy :)**


	3. Chapter 3 One More Night

**Disclaimer: I still don't own Big Time Rush or the chapter title, which is the name of a Maroon 5 song. Oh, and anything else recognizable in this doesn't belong to me either, I'm just borrowing it for entertainment purposes.**

**FandomWhore: He definitely will haha. I feel a little bad for him ;P I have no idea what that means, but it sounds really philosophical. Thank you for taking the time to read and review, it's much appreciated!**

**TeamCarlexa: I wouldn't say I ship them, but I definitely support them :) Thanks! I guess it depends on what you mean by drama. Honestly, the real drama isn't going to happen for a few more chapters, I'm still setting things up for the rest of the story. But that's very good to hear! Thank you for reading and reviewing, I really appreciate it!**

**Stydia5ever: Haha agreed! It really does sound like something you can catch, but beggars can't be choosers ;P Aww, thank you so much, you're so sweet! And thank you for reading and reviewing! It's so appreciated :)**

**InLogansBed: So true ;P Thanks! I don't, since I'm just a college student haha. Thank you for taking the time to read and review, I really appreciate it!**

**ThatOneKid: He might be, depending on whether or not he manages to worm his way back into the story. Shelby's friends will probably be introduced at some point, though I'm not making promises since I'm not _that_ far into the story. Well, you're going to have wait a little bit more for that, but I like your psychic abilities! Thanks! And thank you for taking the time to read and review, I really appreciate it :)**

**Again, wow! You guys blew me away again with all the reviews and alerts! I'm so happy people seem to be enjoying the story so far :) So thank you for taking the time to let me know! I can't even begin to say how much I appreciate it.**

**A/N: So, this story is once again being updated in a semi timely manner! It's a miracle! Anyway, Carlos and Kendall are introduced in this chapter, and Logan will be introduced in the next one. Normally I wouldn't bring that up, but a few of you have asked about the guys so I just thought I'd let you guys know :) Okay, so I'm aware that the interview scene in this chapter isn't entirely accurate, but I'm tweaking certain things to make other stuff work. Ah, the beauty of writing fanfiction.**

**Enjoy the chapter :)**

* * *

**Chapter Three – One More Night**

**James' POV**

"Are you fucking kidding me?!" Carlos yelled on the other end of the phone line. "You're going to get to see Katie Knight?!"

"No, Carlos, I'm not fucking kidding you," I sighed. "I'm taking Shelb to see the concert."

"And you got VIP?!"

"Well, not me. My mom. She paid for the tickets."

"Still. You're going to get to see Katie Knight in concert!"

"Uh huh." I cradled the phone between my ear and shoulder as I stared at the row of soup cans in front of me. I was standing in the soup aisle at Fresh & Green, a grocery store a couple of miles away from my mom's place. She had asked me to take care of some shopping for her while she was at work. Since Shelby was at a friend's place, I had gone alone.

Just as I had been turning down the soup and cans aisle, my phone had blasted out the opening chords to 3 Doors Down's song _Kryptonite_. It turned out it that it was my best friend, Carlos Garcia, calling, answering my text from the night before when I had told him that I was being dragged to see Katie Knight live in concert. Yippee. He was a Katie Knight fan, genuinely liking her music without actually having a huge celebrity crush on her. Although you would never know it by the way he was going on and on about meeting her…

"Dude, this is so awesome! You're actually going to get to meet her a second time!"

"I'm aware." I reached up, grabbing a couple of cans of soup and plopping them in the shopping cart, letting out a breath. "Anyway, if you're such a big fan of Katie Knight, why don't _you_ go to her concert?"

"Because I can't afford it, duh. I had to get new brake shoes for my car, and unfortunately safe transportation slightly outweighs seeing a hot pop star."

"Ah. Hey, I wonder if Mom will let you take Shelby to the concert."

"I doubt it. She still hasn't completely forgiven me for almost blowing up your kitchen that one time."

"Oh yeah. I forgot about that." I groaned. "Guess I really am going to have to go."

"When's the big day?"

"Two days from now."

"Damn. Know what you're going to say to her when you see her?"

"Call me crazy, but I was thinking something along the lines of 'hey, how's it going'…"

"Bor-ring," he sing-songed.

"Carlos, I'm not going to go for some elaborate greeting."

"You could dress up as Marius."

"No thanks."

"Well, you have to do something to make sure that she remembers you."

"What the hell are you talking about?" I pushed the cart down the aisle, glancing at the shelves before heading over to the refrigerated section.

"You know, since she met you. You need to do something to jog her memory. Maybe you should recite a couple of lines from Le Mis."

"Yeah, sure, I'll definitely do that," I said sarcastically.

"I'm serious, you should."

"Right." I checked the shopping list and nodded in satisfaction. I could leave this fucking place now. "Hey, I'm gonna go pay for this stuff, so I'll text you later."

"Sounds good. Hey, who's opening for Katie?"

"Some boy band called Melody5."

"Oooh…"

"What? Please don't tell me you're a fan."

"Don't worry, I'm not. It's just, one of the guys in Melody5 has kind of hinted a couple of times on twitter and in interviews that he likes Katie."

"So? He can like whoever the fuck he wants. It's not like Katie belongs to me."

"But don't you like her? I mean, you said she was really pretty."

"Carlos, I have met the girl exactly once."

"And you're going to meet her exactly twice in two days."

"I don't have any claim over her, just like she doesn't have any claim over me."

"I guess…"

"Don't worry about it. If she wants to date a member of a pop boy band, then it doesn't really matter to me."

"Okay…If you're sure…"

"I'm positive. I'll let you go. Talk to you later."

"Bye."

We hung up and I slipped my phone into my jeans pocket. I paid for the groceries and wheeled the cart out to my pickup. Before I could get the door open, however, I heard someone call my name.

I turned around to see Victoria Steinwood, my ex girlfriend, walking towards me with a smile.

"Tori, hey," I greeted her as she pulled me into a hug. She had never been one for messy breakups, and when we had split up she had insisted we try to stay amiable at the very least. It was a good idea, considering we had dated from our senior year of high school until last June, when we had finally decided to call it quits.

"Hey." She kissed my cheek and pulled back, still smiling. "Whoa, since when do you do the grocery shopping?"

I shrugged, shifting from one foot to the other. "It's for my mom. I'm staying at her place until school starts back up and she asked me to, so…"

"Ah, makes sense. For a second I was worried you were going all domestic on me."

"Nope, I still have no clue how much laundry detergent to put into the washing machine."

"Good to know you haven't completely lost your mind."

"Yeah…So, how have you been?"

"Really good," she said brightly. "I've been busy, taking summer drama classes at the school. How about you? I heard you were doing Le Mis at the Diablo Theater."

"Yeah, I am. Tonight's our last night, actually."

"Oh, cool! If it isn't sold out, I'll try to come. I wanted to see you in it before, but I've just been way too busy. Makes me feel kind of guilty."

"Don't worry about it." I waved it off. "If you can come, then come, and if you can't, then it's not a big deal."

"Thanks. But I'm going to try to. Hey, what're your plans for this weekend?"

"Um…honestly?"

"Yeah…why?"

"I'm taking Shelby to the Katie Knight concert."

Victoria's jaw dropped. "Are you serious? You sister likes that kind of music?" She sounded as horrified as I routinely felt when I heard Katie Knight's songs blasting from Shelby's room.

"Yep…"

"She clearly didn't inherit your good taste."

"Clearly not," I said dryly. "So yeah, I'm being dragged to that since my mom can't take her."

"That sucks. Well, try to have fun. Who knows? It might not be as bad as you think it will be."

"Yeah…maybe."

"Anyway, maybe we could hang out sometime? For old times' sake?" She looked up at me with big green eyes, tucking a strand of auburn hair behind her ear. "Please?"

I immediately melted. "Yeah, sure, of course. Maybe we could grab coffee or something."

"Cool. Well, I've gotta run in and pick up a cake. It's my brother's birthday tomorrow."

"Oh yeah. Tell Chase I said happy birthday."

"I will. Tell your mom and Shelby 'hi' from me" Tori smiled at me once more, before hurrying towards the store. I watched her for a moment, before shaking my head and loading everything into my pickup. I swung up into the cab and buckled my seatbelt, starting the car and pulling out of the spot.

Once I was parked in my mom's driveway and had brought everything into the kitchen, I plopped on the couch, turning on the TV. Mom and Shelby walked in a half an hour later. Shelby disappeared up the stairs and returned with three CDs.

"Here," she said, passing them both to me.

I took them, staring at the covers. "What the fuck are these?"

"Those two on the top are Katie Knight's CDs, and the bottom one is Melody5's. Listen to them. Memorize them. There will be a test on them tomorrow."

I stared at her blankly for a long moment, until her face broke out into a grin. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding!" she cracked up. "You should've seen the look on your face. But no, seriously, listen to them. It'll prep you for the concert."

"I've been to concerts before."

"Yeah, but not pop ones." She snuggled up to me like she had done when she was younger. "Just rock ones. Like that Sixx:A.M. one."

I smiled a little. "They're a good band."

"My point is, I know this isn't your usual style of music. And…well…I know was a complete brat yesterday about the whole Katie Knight thing."

I stared at her. "Why the sudden change of heart?"

"I was at Alyssa's house today, and I was complaining about you taking me. She stared at me for a few seconds before telling me that her older brother and sister never even try to do anything with her, and that I'm really lucky to have such an awesome brother. She's right. You don't have to do this, you don't have to take me to the concert."

"Mom talked me into it."

"Yeah, but you still could have said _screw it_. But you didn't. So yeah, you're kind of a cool big brother."

I eyed her for a long moment, before relaxing. "Okay. But if I find out this is just to sucker me into buying you something I can't even begin to afford, I'll tell Mom about that time when you were twelve – "

Shelby squealed. "You promised not to tell!"

I smirked. "Just consider it a little sibling blackmail."

"I take back what I said about you being a cool big brother." She pouted, crossing her arms.

I chuckled and gave her a one arm hug. "Come on, you know you love me."

"Ugh. Jerk."

I laughed again, before pausing. "Oh…um…Tori says 'hi'."

Shelby immediately straightened up, narrowing her eyes at me. "You saw Tori?"

"Um…yeah."

"When?"

"Today. When I was at the grocery store. Which reminds me, I actually need to head down to the theater for rehearsal. Last night performing Le Mis – I don't want to be late."

"Are you seeing her again?" Shelby demanded as I got to my feet, standing up as well.

"No! Of course not. Come on, Shelb, we just ran into each other. We both live in LA and we go to the same school, it was bound to happen at some point."

"Fine. But whatever you do, _do not_ get back together with her. I mean it, James," she added, pointing her finger at me threateningly. "She wasn't good for you, not towards the end."

"How the hell do you even know?"

"Mom told me, duh. Anyway, I know you guys were close in high school, but come on, she's not worth any of the crap she put you through."

"I know, Shelby!" I yelled, before raking my fingers through my hair. "I'm sorry. I just – look, we just ran into each other. Nothing happened. She asked me to say 'hi' to you and Mom. Okay? That's all."

"Okay," Shelby let out a deep breath. "Okay. Well, Mom and I'll see you tonight after the performance."

"Are you coming?"

"Heck yeah! We wouldn't miss it for the world. Carlos is coming with us too. Oh, and with a couple of friends he made at UCLA." She smiled widely at me and I hugged her again. It was nice to know that someone had my back, even if she was just my fourteen year old sister.

I pulled back after a minute, and she grinned at me. "And just remember, I'm missing Katie Knight on _Let's Talk LA Live_, so you owe me big time."

"Uh huh, sure," I grinned back, ruffled her hair, and headed into the kitchen. I kissed my mom's cheek, before making my way outside.

I climbed back into my truck and let out a deep breath. Closing night of plays and musicals were always bittersweet. On the one hand, it was nice because it meant that months of rehearsing and perfecting your lines, voice, accent, and dance steps were over. But on the other one, there was nothing quite like being out on stage, in front of an audience, performing for them, entertaining them, making them laugh or cry or "oooh". There was a power rush, like a shot of adrenaline. It was the place I felt the most alive; it was the one place I truly knew I belonged. And I wouldn't give it up for anything.

And with that thought, I jammed the key into the ignition and turned, hearing the engine come roaring to life.

One more night.

* * *

**Katie's POV**

I sat in the green room on the Let's Talk LA Live sound stage, shaking my head at my brother. "You would decide to see Les Misérables on the last night of performances."

Kendall shrugged. "Hey, I've been busy."

"With?"

"With enjoying my summer. Something I'm not sure you've been able to do," he added as he sat down on the plush, velvety couch beside me. "You look tired."

I shrugged. "Tour's almost over. The last show is in two days. I'll relax then."

"Uh huh. Sure." Kendall straightened out his flannel button up shirt. "Anyway, I have to go in a few. I'm meeting up with Logan and Carlos at the Diablo Theater."

"Have fun." I smiled at him.

"Eh. We'll see. Tragedies aren't really my thing."

"I wouldn't exactly call it a tragedy…I mean, it's definitely not a comedy, but it's not really a tragedy."

He shrugged. "Either way, I doubt I'll be really into it. But Logan loves that sort of thing, and Carlos' buddy is in the musical."

"Yeah? Who's his friend?"

"The guy who plays Marius. James-something or other."

"Diamond?" I sat bolt upright, staring at Kendall.

"Yeah, that's the one. James Diamond. Apparently he's really good."

"Oh my God, Kendall, he's amazing. Like, his voice is incredible and his acting is flawless and he's just…oh my gosh. He's the guy I met after the performance I went to."

Kendall smirked. "Oh, the hot one."

My cheeks burned.

"That explains why you remember him."

"He's really talented!" I insisted.

"Yeah, okay, I'll take your word for it. So, I should keep an eye on him? Want me to tell him that my sister wants to get into his pants?"

"No!" I cried. "I swear, if you say anything about me wanting to sleep with him – "

Kendall raised his hands in surrender. "Chill, I'll keep my mouth shut. If I even meet him, I mean."

"You might, if you're going with one of his friends."

"True. I guess we'll see." He grinned at me and got to his feet. "Well, have a good interview, and text me when it's over. Thanks for letting me come and visit you."

I snorted. "Trust me, it wasn't a huge hassle. Considering I'm not scheduled to go on for another hour, I'm going to be bored out of my mind. I mean, my hair's done, my makeup's done, my outfit's done. Not a lot more to do."

"You'll get through it."

I stood up so that we could hug. Once we broke apart, he stuffed his hands into his jeans pockets and walked out the door into the hall, leaving me alone in the green room.

But not for long.

Elaine, Cody, my agent, Wanda, and my publicist, Danny, walked into the room a split second after Kendall disappeared down the corridor. I sat back down, brushing my dress's skirt over my thighs and crossed my legs.

"Here you go," Wanda said, passing me a piece of paper. "This covers the topics and a general overview of the questions that you'll be asked during the interview."

I glanced over it, winkling my nose at a couple of questions. "They're going to ask about my relationship status?"

"Most talk shows do," she pointed out, taking a seat beside me. "And they're going to ask about Natalia Walker."

I made a scoffing sound in the back of my throat. Natalia Walker was my costar in "Haunted University", the movie premiering in November. Our scenes together had mainly consisted of us screaming bloody murder and hanging onto each other for dear life, but the second the camera was off, we had bickered like an old married couple who really shouldn't have gotten married in the first place. She was a bitch who used her looks to get whatever the hell she wanted. I couldn't stand girls like that. She could get anything she wanted just by blinking her big blue eyes at a Hollywood Big Wig and making sure her cleavage was in his line of sight.

"Why would they even ask that?" Cody demanded. "What's so interesting about her?"

"There have been rumors going around that Katie and Natalia can't stand each other," Danny explained. "I purposefully made sure that they agreed to ask that question so that Katie could clear the air."

"Uh, Danny? Natalia and I really can't stand each other. She put honey in my hair once, and I put itching powder in her pushup bra and thong to get her back for it. Okay? We're the very definition of enemies," I informed him.

"Well, don't say that. Make it sound like it was all just one huge misunderstanding, and that you and Natalia are the best of friends now."

I groaned. "But she's such a bitch."

"So be the bigger person."

"How can I be the bigger person when I'm barely five feet tall?!" I wailed.

Danny groaned, massaging his temples. "It's going to be a long night…"

I slumped back against the couch cushions. I had a feeling he was going to be right.

Eventually one of the show's assistants joined us, clipping a microphone under the bust of my dress, before asking me to follow her out into the hall. I trotted behind her, tottering slightly in my three inch heels, all the while thinking that instead of spending my TV show money on a car and house, I should have used it to pay for deportment lessons.

We paused just outside the door that would act as a portal onto the soundstage. Giant TV screens were set in along the walls, and I could see the show's hostess, Misty Lively, smiling brightly at the camera as she tossed her bright red hair over a shoulder. "She was on a popular family sitcom from the time she was nine until she was 16; she has a new movie set to premiere in November; and she has two chart topping albums out, and a number one single. Please give it up for Katie Knight!"

That was my cue.

The assistant gave me a shove and I stumbled slightly through the doors, catching myself before the cameras could film me tripping over my own feet. I plastered a bright smile on my face as I walked across the stage, waving at the roaring audience.

I strolled over to Misty who had risen from her cushy maroon chair so that she could give me a hug. I hugged her back, feeling her bony spine under my fingers before pulling back. She beamed at me, before gesturing at me to take a seat. I did so, my feet just barely touching the smooth faux wooden floor.

"Thank you so much for coming on the show!" Misty gushed to me.

"Thank you so much for having me!" I gushed back, draping one leg over the other.

"You look amazing, even more so than the last time you were on the show."

I laughed. "Well, it's been a couple of years."

"That's right! The last time you were on the show, it was right after _These Days Are Ours_ had announced that it was in its last season."

I nodded. "Yep, that sounds about right."

"But you've done incredibly well since then. I mean, you've put out two albums, and you've been in two movies since then. And your third movie is about to come out."

I gave the appropriate giggle. "It's not really my movie. It's the director, Mark Wallace's movie."

"And it's a horror movie, right?"

"Yeah. _Haunted University_. It's about this prestigious university back on the east coast that's haunted by malevolent spirits. So, yeah, as you can tell, the plot is really rich and mind blowing."

The audience laughed and Misty chortled politely. "It certainly sounds interesting," Misty commented, shifting in her seat.

"Doesn't it? It was a lot of fun to film," I added, smiling for real this time. It really had been awesome, even if I did have to deal with Natalia Walker.

"I'm sure. So, speaking of _Haunted University_, there have been rumors going around about you and a couple of your cast members."

I smiled knowingly. "You're talking about my so-called 'feud' – " I held my fingers up in quotation marks around the word – "with Natalia Walker, right?"

"I am, as a matter of fact. So, what's the story with that?"

"Pretty boring, actually." I shrugged. "We didn't have the greatest start, but we're just fine now."

"Well, I'm sure everyone will be very glad to hear that, especially since you'll be doing a press tour for the movie with her."

Ugh. Don't remind me. "Yep," I said cheerfully. "It'll be a lot of fun."

"Now, how about your latest album? That's doing pretty well on the charts right now."

"I know! I'm so excited!" I wiggled slightly in my seat, not having to act that part out. "I was really surprised when I looked on iTunes the morning after it dropped and saw that it was number one! It's just so surreal, you know? It's really incredible." I beamed widely.

"It really is," Misty agreed. "Now, is this album like your first one?"

"Yeah, definitely. I do mostly pop rock, and both albums definitely have the same vibe. They're just fun, the kind of music that you'd want to blast in the car or rock out to."

"Are there any songs on the new album that's really personal to you?"

I shrugged. "You know, I write all my own songs, so they're all personal to me on some level. I think the one that really speaks to me the most, though, is _Through the Looking Glass_, because it's about the price of fame. I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm so grateful for everything that I have, I know how lucky I am. It's just, sometimes the lack of privacy and all the speculation about my personal life can get a little wearing."

Misty nodded sympathetically. "I get where you're coming from. But, I do have a personal question for you."

I groaned loudly, pouting at her. "Do you have to ask it?"

"I do. So…is there anyone special in your life? Any boyfriends?"

"Nope," I said emphatically. "I'm single and proud right now. I feel like I should be waving a flag right now."

That got the audience cheering and roaring with laughter again. I grinned at them and blew them a kiss, before turning back to Misty.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but your tour ends in a couple of nights?" she said to me, and I nodded.

"It does. I actually just flew into LA today for the first time in three weeks."

"Where were you?"

"I was in Texas – I performed a show in Dallas last night."

Misty let out a wolf-whistle. "Busy schedule."

I shrugged. "A little. It could be a lot worse."

"Ugh." She shuddered, before flashing another smile at the camera. "We're just about out of time, but thank you so much for coming on the show, Katie."

We both got to our feet and we hugged again. "Thank you so much for having me," I said sincerely, and she smiled at me again.

The cameras were shut off a moment later, and we stepped back. I was rushed off the soundstage to the dressing room, where I changed back into my street clothes. Elaine and Wanda sat in the dressing room as they waited for me, while Cody and Danny stood outside.

"Well, I think the interview went quite well," Elaine commented as I pulled my t-shirt over my head. "Nice job on the part about Natalia, Danny looked pleased."

"Because I was!" Danny called through the door.

"Just one more night to go," Cody said as Wanda opened the door, letting me step out into the hall first. He smiled gently at me. "Just one more night until you can collapse."

I nodded as he placed his hand on my shoulder, steering me down the hall. Just one more night of this tour, and then I could relax for the next month.

I couldn't wait.

* * *

**So, that was chapter three. I'm sorry for the lack of Jatie interaction, but it's coming up :)**

**Thank you for reading, and please review! Reviews are the candy-canes and rainbows we fanfiction writers live on. :)**


	4. Chapter 4 Pop Culture

**Disclaimer: I still don't own Big Time Rush, the chapter title (which is the name of an Icon For Hire song), Le Mis, VIP Nation, or anything recognizable in here.**

**ThatOneKid: Thank you so much, I'm so happy you enjoyed it! The press tour won't be for a little while, but you should get to see it. Thank you for taking the time to read and review, I really appreciate it!**

**InlogansBed: Thanks! Haha really? That's so cool. I love that name :) I can't say much about Tori yet...Thank you for reading and reviewing! It's much appreciated :)**

**TeamCarlexa: Thank you! And thank you for taking the time to read and review, I always appreciate it :)**

**Stydia5ever: Haha I hear the Stydia's heating up in this season of "Teen Wolf". Thank you! And thank you as always for reading and reviewing, it's so appreciated. :)**

**FandomWhore: Thanks! Here's your update! And thank you for reading and reviewing, I really appreciate it :)**

**Thank you so much to everyone who has taken the time to look at this story, read it, review it, favorite it, and follow it. I loved getting all your responses and alerts, and they always get me thinking about what else I could/should put in the story :)**

**A/N: First of all, huge thanks to Jatieluv! She was nice enough to give me some much needed information for this chapter at pretty much literally the last minute. So if you guys could go over to her profile and check out her stories, that would be awesome :) And if any information is wrong about the VIP concert process, it's my fault and chances are I switched it up a little for the sake of the story.**

**Next, I know you guys have been asking for some Jatie moments, and I'm so sorry for the lack of them! But this is the first half of the concert chapter, so the James/Katie moments will be coming back in. :)**

**Enjoy the chapter :)**

* * *

**Chapter Four – Pop Culture**

**James' POV**

The last night of Les Misérables was amazing. The show was completely sold out, and the audience was enthusiastic and energetic. The entire cast gave our all, and by the time we had run off the stage after the bows, I was completely out of breath, but still managing to laugh in elation.

"That was incredible!" Mr. Tucker cried as he hurried over to us. "Definitely the strongest performance of the run!"

We all grinned at him, before hugging each other and heading off to our dressing rooms to get changed into our street clothes. I had agreed to go out to a late dinner with my mom, sister, Carlos, and his friends from school, Kendall and Logan. I hadn't met Kendall and Logan yet, but from the way Carlos talked about them, I had a feeling I would get along awesomely with them.

I changed out of my costume, circa the 1800s, and into jeans, a t-shirt, and a sweatshirt. I walked out of my dressing room and out to the lobby, where they were all waiting.

"My baby boy!" Mom squealed, looking slightly tearful as she launched herself at me, wrapping her arms tightly around me.

"Mom – ow – okay, cutting off my circulation – seriously – can't – breathe – !"

"Mom! Let him go before he passes out on us!" Shelby and Carlos hauled her off of me.

"Oh, sorry," Mom apologized.

Shelby laughed and hugged me quickly, before letting Carlos in.

"Dude, you were amazing," he said once he had pulled back. "I always forget you can sing like that until I see you perform live."

"Thanks." I grinned at him, before looking at the other two guys standing a little ways to the side.

"Oh! James, this is Kendall Knight – " he indicated the tall, dark blond guy, " – and this is Logan Mitchell." He nodded towards the shorter, dark haired man.

"Nice to meet you," I smiled at them, shaking their hands.

"Carlos is right, you completely killed it," Kendall told me enthusiastically. "And my sister told me you were really good."

I frowned in confusion. "Your sister?"

"Oh yeah," he grinned. "I hear you met her a few weeks ago. Katie Knight?"

My eyebrows skyrocketed. "As in the pop star slash actress?"

"Yeah, that's her. She's been raving about your performance since the night she saw you. She was still slightly star struck tonight. I was hanging out with her before her interview on _Let's Talk LA Live_ and she was just gushing on and on about you. She said your performance was flawless."

Shelby stepped between Kendall and me. "She said that? For real?"

"Yeah, she did."

She grinned back at me. "You know what yours and Katie's couple name is going to be?"

"Couple name?!" I sputtered, aghast as Carlos, Logan, and Kendall all cracked up. "We don't have a couple name! I've only met her once!"

"Whatever. Anyway, your couple name would be _Jatie_."

Carlos smirked. "Catchy."

"Kind of has a ring to it," Logan added.

"It's like it's meant to be," Kendall put in, grinning.

"Can we go eat now?" I whined. "I can't deal with this on an empty stomach."

Mom smirked and wrapped an arm around me. "Awww, you don't want us teasing you about a girl?"

"Let me think about that for a moment – no!"

"Boo. Come on, let's go grab food."

We made our way out of the theater, walking down to a nearby Chinese restaurant. Once we were seated, Shelby began chattering away, asking Kendall questions about Katie: "What time does she get up in the morning?" "What's she like in real life?" "Is she really as gorgeous as James says she is?" That one earned her a glare and a, "Shelby, _shut up_!" from me.

She blinked at me innocently, before turning back to Kendall.

Kendall chuckled, eyes glittering in amusement. "She's not a morning person, so she tends to sleep in as late as she possibly can. In real life, she can be annoying as hell, but she can also be a sweetheart. And yeah, she's pretty, but she's my sister so I can't really say for sure."

"Shelby, you shouldn't ask him questions about his sister," Mom spoke up thirty seconds after the fact.

"Nah, it's fine," Kendall waved his hand airily. "I'm used to it. Anymore questions?" he asked Shelby, who chewed on her bottom lip thoughtfully.

"No, I think I'm good for the time being," she said after a moment. "But thanks."

We ordered our food soon after, and I relaxed against my seat, yawning. The past few months of nonstop rehearsing was finally hitting me. I would probably conk out for the next eighteen hours once I got home.

Our food arrived after about ten minutes, and we dug in hungrily. I practically inhaled mine, completely ravenous after running around on stage for over two hours.

At last, we finished eating and paid, heading out.

By the time I stumbled into my room, I felt as if I was going to tumble to the floor from exhaustion. I stripped down to my boxers, yanked my covers back, and fell into my bed, plummeting into dreamland before I even knew what was happening.

When I finally woke up, sunlight was streaming through my bedroom curtains and pop music was blasting in the next room. I opened an eye, glaring at the wall. Shelby. She was playing Katie Knight's songs. She was going to pay for that.

Later.

For now, I just wanted to go back to sleep.

But I was hungry…

Damn it!

I pushed the covers back and grabbed a pair of sweats and a t-shirt from the floor, slipping them on. I padded downstairs, feeling the thickly carpeted stairs under my bare feet.

Mom was sitting in the living room, head bent over a paperback romance novel. However, she looked up as I walked towards the kitchen. "Good afternoon, sweetie."

"Afternoon?" I rubbed my hand over my eyes. "What time is it?"

"A little after two."

"Fuck. Guess I really was exhausted."

"Doubtlessly. Doing intense performances like that, eight times a week for two months – and that's not counting all the rehearsals – has got to be draining. I don't think even pop stars have that kind of schedule."

I shrugged. "I wouldn't know. I'm gonna go grab some food."

"Okay. There's sandwich fixings in the fridge."

"Sounds good." I made my way into the kitchen and over to the fridge. I made myself a turkey and cheese sandwich and stood at the sink, stuffing it in my mouth hungrily. Just as I was swallowing the last couple of bites, Shelby sauntered into the kitchen. She made a face at me.

"Yeah, I don't know how you expect to get a girlfriend when you eat like a starving bulldog."

"Hello to you too," I grumbled. "By the way, it was so fucking pleasant being woken up by Katie Knight."

Shelby smirked. "Did I wake you up? My bad."

"Brat."

"Jerk."

"Don't start!" Mom called from the living room as I opened my mouth to toss another insult Shelby's way. I clamped my jaw shut and instead yanked the refrigerator door open, snatching up a bottle of water. I twisted the cap off and took a long swig.

"So, you know what tomorrow is?" Shelby asked, wiggling slightly as she propped herself up on the counter.

"Gee, I couldn't possibly guess," I said sarcastically.

"Tomorrow's the Katie Knight concert!"

"No kidding. I never would have been able to guess just by looking at the calendar." I dramatically turned my head towards the aforementioned calendar that was hanging on the wall over the counter. In the designated square for August 28th, Shelby had written in bright red sharpie marker, _KATIE KNIGHT CONCERT! EEEEP!_ So yeah, not noticeable at all.

"Hmmph." She crossed her arms, scowling. As always, I ignored her.

I finished off the bottle of water and tossed in the trashcan under the sink, crossing the room. "If you need me, I'll be in my room, sleeping off the last three months."

"You only performed Le Mis for two months."

"Yeah, but I had a month of rehearsals before that – which started right before finals." I shuddered. I was never doing that again. During those two weeks, I was pretty sure I was going to go crazy. Alternating between studying like my life depended on it and rehearsing eight to twelve hours a day was about as much fun as undergoing surgery completely conscious with a rusty nail being used as the surgical tool.

"Oh yeah. Dang, am I glad I'm not you. And FYI, you brought it on yourself."

"Yeah, I know. But it was too good an opportunity to miss."

"Why'd you even go into the audition in the first place?"

"Mostly just for the hell of it," I admitted. "I didn't actually think I would land the role of Marius. But hey, I did, and I loved it. That's the important part."

"And you were an amazing Marius," she added.

I smiled. "Thanks."

"Uh huh. Now, go take a shower. You stink like milk left out in the sun for too long."

I rolled my eyes. Gotta love little sisters. They always knew just what to say. "Will do, Shelb."

"Good. Dried sweat is not a good smell for _anyone_."

"Uh huh." Nevertheless, I made my way upstairs to the bathroom, where I brushed my teeth, did my business, and hopped into the shower.

I was woken up unceremoniously at 8:30 the next morning by Shelby. I wasn't a morning person on my best days, and two days after I had finished a two month run for a dramatic musical meant that I would have slept until night if I could have.

So it was an unpleasant surprise when she climbed up on my bed, jumping on it. "Getupgetupgetup!" she chanted, shoving me from my stomach and onto my back with her foot.

"What the fuck?!" I yelped. "What the fuck are you doing in here?!"

"Waking you up, duh."

"What are you, five? Go back to sleep. Or go downstairs and watch TV or something. I'm trying to sleep." I rolled back onto my stomach, grabbing my pillow and placing it over my head to try to drown out her voice as much as possible.

It didn't work.

"I can't. I'm too excited to sit still! Anyway, don't we have to be at the Globalnet Sanyoid Center kind of early?"

I groaned. "We don't have to be there until three, when check-in time is."

"But won't traffic be really bad?"

"Maybe. But it's LA, it's always bad. Anyway, we live in the city, Shelby. We don't have to leave until 1:30 at the earliest."

"Come on!" she whined, plopping down next to me. "Please get up."

I sighed. "Did you even sleep last night?"

"Yeah, but Mom gave me one of those sleeping pills she takes to calm me down."

"I see it worked," I commented sardonically.

"Did you sleep?"

"Yeah, I did."

"Good. Then get up."

I sighed, resigning myself to the fact that I wasn't going to get to say in bed unless I wanted my legs to go numb from Shelby's wait. How the hell could a girl that skinny weigh so much?

I pushed myself out of bed and, ignoring Shelby's cheers, headed for the bathroom where I went through my usual morning routine.

I met up with Mom downstairs when I was fixing myself a bowl of cereal.

"I didn't expect you up this early," she said as she sauntered into the kitchen, wearing a charcoal gray skirt suit and matching heels, her hair and makeup flawless.

"Yeah, well, your daughter decided that she had to spread her insane energy around," I grumbled, taking a bite of my Cocoa Puffs. "So she came in and jumped on my bed, and then sat on my legs."

Mom covered her mouth with her perfectly manicured fingers, eyes sparkling with amusement. "If I had known – "

"Uh huh. Sure."

She set her purse on the counter and dug around in it, pulling out her wallet. She passed me a small wad of money. "Use this for dinner and a snack, since I'm sure Shelby won't be able to eat very much before you leave. But knowing her, she'll be hungry by the time you get down there."

"More than likely."

"This is also to cover any expenses," she added. "I know Shelby has some money saved up, but I don't want her blowing her entire allowance on a damn t-shirt. Those things are expensive."

"Believe me, I know."

"That being said, it's her first concert and she has VIP. I want her to have a good time. I also want you to have a good time." She walked over to me, kissing my cheek. "I'm proud of you, Jamie. I know going to this concert isn't going to be your favorite thing in the world, but I know you'll make sure your sister has fun. In all honesty, she'll probably have quite a bit more fun with you than she would have with me. I'm her mom and therefore will come with restrictions. You won't make her get something healthy to eat, and knowing you, you'll probably spoil her rotten at the merch booth."

I made a sound of protest. "I will not."

"You will, just like you do when we go to the fair or Fun Land."

I sighed.

"Face it, James. You have a big heart."

I whined. "Mo-om! Stop it! You're embarrassing me."

She chuckled and kissed my cheek again. "And hey, enjoy seeing Katie again."

"Uh huh. Sure."

She grinned and headed over to the coffeepot to pour herself a cup.

I finished off my cereal, poured a cup of coffee for myself, and downed it without even bothering to add any cream or sugar. I had a feeling I was going to be needing the caffeine before we even got out of the driveway.

Mom went upstairs to say bye to Shelby, before joining me again momentarily to hug me. "Have fun today and be safe. Text me when you get there and when you leave. I'll see you tonight."

I nodded. "See you tonight."

She walked out of the house, closing the front door behind her, and I raked my fingers through my hair. Today was going to be a fucking long day.

I rinsed my coffee mug out and set it on the counter, before making my way up the stairs to the bathroom. I shaved and showered, drying off and hurrying to my room where I dressed quickly in jeans and a black t-shirt, figuring that simple was better. I shoved my feet into my black Converse high tops, laced them up, and ran a comb through my hair.

Shelby ended up dragging me out of the house at one-o-clock exactly, the entire time double checking to make sure we had everything we needed for the concert. We ended up stopping at a fast food restaurant for lunch, heading inside to sit down since we had a good half an hour to spare. We took our time, chewing on our burgers, me munching on my Mozzarella sticks while she chomped on her fries. At last, we took off, weaving through the increasingly thickening traffic as we drew nearer to the Globalnet Sanyoid Center.

Katie Knight's latest CD was blasting through the speakers of the car, and I was grinding my teeth. We were in a backup bad enough to rival the Friday night ones on the PCH. Shelby sang along to the song, and I rolled my eyes. Okay, seriously, did the girl not have anything to sing about besides stupid boys and even stupider crushes?

We finally made it through the traffic, and I found a parking spot a couple of blocks down from the center. I parked, and Shelby and I strolled towards the building, Shelby fidgeting nervously, tugging at her tank top, messing with her bracelets, adjusting her necklace.

We reached the center and got in line with the rest of the VIP concert goers. I took the opportunity to text Mom and let her know that we had gotten there a half an hour early, so everything was going pretty well.

At 3:05 they began ushering us in, checking bags, purses, and even jeans pockets, before letting us into the lobby. One of Katie's assistants handed out our VIP passes while we waited for the next step. After some dude from VIP Nation or whatever gave us instructions, making it very clear that there would be harsh consequences if we put even one toe out of line, we were ushered single file into the amphitheater.

We took our assigned seats, Shelby quietly squealing, and I let out a deep breath.

Okay. So I was about to see Katie again. So she was about to come out on stage. So she was probably going to see me and I was definitely going to see her. And I really should not have been this nervous. I had only met her once, and it had been brief, and it hadn't really gone all that well. Anyway, we were a few rows back, so hopefully she wouldn't see me anyway. But if she did…oh man…That was something I definitely didn't want to think about.

The tour manager walked out a moment later and gave us some more instructions about what we could and could not ask Katie, before hurrying off stage.

After about ten seconds, Katie walked out, and I bit my lip. She looked good. She was wearing jeans, lace up boots, and a slightly baggy t-shirt. Her hair was straight and loose, and she was wearing very little makeup, if any at all. She actually looked less pop star and more rock star.

I liked it.

Shelby rolled her eyes, as if she knew what I was thinking.

Katie plopped down on a stool, a microphone in her hand, and she smiled out at the audience. "How's everyone doing today?"

There was a cheer.

"Yeah, I'm going to need you guys to be a little bit louder," she grinned widely. "So…how's everyone doing today?!"

I was pretty sure the audience's response shook the building. Okay, then…

"That's good to hear. I'm Katie Knight, and I'll be your humble performing host today." A cheeky smirk crossed her face. "I'm going to play a few songs for you guys and answer some questions." Her gaze wandered as she spoke, and on the word _questions_ it settled…on Shelby and me. Her eyes widened and I fought back a blush. Great. She had seen me. Fucking awesome.

I slid down low in my seat, trying to avoid the way her gaze seemed to pierce me.

Katie answered a couple of questions, before playing acoustic versions of her latest singles. Once she was finished with them, more people asked questions. Shelby's hand popped up into the air, and Katie hesitated, before pointing at her.

Shelby positively glowed as she got to her feet. "Okay, um, I was wondering what you thought of the performance of Le Mis you saw."

I groaned, covering my face with my hands. Un-fucking-believable. Of course Shelby would decide that it was a good idea to ask Katie that. Of course.

"Oh…um…" I peeked through my fingers to see Katie blush a bright red and lick her lips nervously. "It was really, really good. I definitely enjoyed it. The – um – actors – they were really amazing."

Shelby grinned, elbowing me as she sat back down. "Yeah, she's into you," she hissed at me, and I glared at her once I had lowered my hands.

"I really hate you. I can't believe you just did that!"

"Yeah, I know. Wasn't it awesome?"

"_Awesome_ is not the word I would use," I growled, but before I could begin lecturing her on not trying to set me up with a pop star, another song began. This one was slower, the lyrics not nearly as stupid as they were in some of her more upbeat songs, and Katie's voice took on a soulful, heartfelt tone.

Wow. She really could sing.

I gazed up at her, completely star struck as she sang the song. It was sad, talking about childhood lost and losing someone close to her, but it was beautiful. How had I not heard this song before?!

Beside me, Shelby swayed slowly in her seat, back and forth, back and forth like a soft breeze. She, too, was staring transfixed at Katie, every bit as hypnotized as I was.

At last, the song ended and Katie beamed out at us as we broke out into cheers and applause. "That was exactly the reaction I was going for! Thank you so much! Okay, this next one is a little more fun than the last one. It's just about getting away with the love of your life, driving down an empty road. Sound nice?"

"YES!" came the collective scream, and she chuckled.

"Good. Here we go!"

The meet and greet continued for another ten minutes or so. Eventually Katie and her guitarist got to their feet.

"Thank you, everyone!" Katie hollered to the audience. "I'll see you guys in a little while!" They headed off stage, and us lucky VIP ticket holders were hustled back out of the room and down the hall, into another chamber, specially marked with the acronym _VIP_. I knew if we had been at a fair concert or an outdoor venue we would have ended up in a tent, but since this was one hell of a huge building, we apparently had a huge room to ourselves.

Katie arrived a few minutes after we did, glowing from her time on stage even with her security circled around her, and looking beyond excited to meet everyone.

Shelby wiggled impatiently beside me. "I can't believe I'm going to meet her! I can't believe I'm seeing her in person! Oh my gosh, she's so beautiful, isn't she?" she breathed out to me. "I wish I looked like her."

I couldn't decide if I wanted to laugh or cry. The fact was, Shelby was every bit as gorgeous as Katie was. She was going to be tall, already standing at 5'7 at the ripe old age of fourteen, with a willowy figure, sleek chestnut brown hair, and the same hazel eyes as me. I was fully aware that I was going to have to punch out more than a couple of high school boys over the next few years, and it wasn't something I was particularly looking forward to. It didn't help that Shelby truly had no idea how pretty she really was, which made me think she might be an easy target for some upperclassman looking for an easy lay. While I knew nothing about Shelby was easy, I knew how charming and suave older guys could seem to teenage girls, and I wanted to make sure that nothing happened to her that she didn't want to happen.

"Trust me," I said to Shelby quietly. "You're just as pretty as Katie, just in a different way."

Shelby shook her head, clearly not believing me. Maybe that was a good thing. The girls who knew how pretty they were could be just as dangerous as those charming upperclassmen. They could be conniving and bitchy, and would expect you to forgive them the second they flashed a smile and showed a little leg. I had had my fair share of experiences with those girls in high school and even in college, and each time my immediate reaction was to get the hell out of there as fast as I could. Run like the wind. That sort of thing.

The line moved up a little more, and I took the time to watch Katie. She would pose with each person, and then if people were in a group she would take a picture with all of them. I was pretty sure that was one picture more than most singers did with people, but if there was one thing that I really did like about Katie, it was the fact that she obviously cared about her fans and loved what she was doing. You didn't see that every day.

I watched as Katie knelt down beside a little girl, smiling brightly at her and talking softly, before moving onto the girl's brother, a boy around five or six. Katie remained kneeling, and kissed his cheek, making the boy blush a bright red. I chuckled at the sight as the photographer snapped the picture. Katie then took a group picture with the brother and sister and their mother, who was just a couple of years older than me.

One thing was for sure. Katie definitely wasn't a bitchy pop star. So, kudos to her.

Shelby and I finally reached her.

Katie looked at us for a long moment, before turning her face up towards me, a small smile playing around her lips. "Hey, stranger. I think you're at the wrong concert. This is a _pop_ show, not a rock one."

Well, she definitely remembered me.

* * *

**So, that was chapter four. Hopefully you guys liked it :) Thank you for reading, and please review! Reviews are a fanfiction's writer's lifeline after all ;)**


	5. Chapter 5 Good to Meet You

**Disclaimer: I do not own Big Time Rush. The chapter title is the name of one of School Boy Humor's songs. The songs used in this chapter are property of Avril Lavigne, Demi Lovato, and Simple Plan and their various record labels. I also don't own anything else that's recognizable.**

**Taylor Shine: Thank you so much! And thank you for taking the time to read and review :) I really appreciate it.**

**FandomWhore: Haha I try :P And thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed it. And thank you for taking the time to read and review, it's much appreciated!**

**InLogansBed: Thank you! And thank you for reading and reviewing, I really appreciate it!**

**Stydia5ever: I don't even know what's going on because I'm waiting for the third season to come out onto DVD. And thanks, I'm happy you liked it :) She did remember him haha. Thank you for reading and reviewing, it's really appreciated.**

**TeamCarlexa: Thanks! And thank you for taking the time to read and review :) I really appreciate it.**

**ThatOnekid: Thank you :) And here's the next chapter ;) Thank you for taking the time to read and review, I really appreciate it!**

**Thank you so much for all the reviews, favorites, and follows! You guys seriously make my day (and week!) that much better :)**

**A/N: So, this chapter continues the meet and greet and the concert. I know that there's a few inaccurate things in here, but I needed them for the chapter, and since it's fanfiction...I also have to do a quick shout out to Jatieluv because I borrowed something from her that actually did happen, though it's used in a different way and I'm pretty sure I didn't repeat it right.**

**Also, Jatieluv and I have a new story up called "My Fake Boyfriend?". We just posted it last night, and it'd be awesome if you guys could check it out. It's rated a strong M, though, so keep that in mind if/when you read it :)**

**One more thing. I've been asked a few different times in the past couple of weeks about "Anywhere But Here" and "Take the Heat". I promise, the chapters are in the works, but they're both going very slowly. With "Take the Heat" I just need to actually take the time to focus on it, and with "Anywhere But Here" I need to figure out what exactly needs to happen in the next chapter. Also, I'm slowly working on a companion story for "Break the Ice", so hopefully that'll be up soon as well.**

**I think that's about it :)**

**Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

**Chapter Five – Good to Meet You**

**Katie's POV**

I loved meet and greets. Besides playing concerts and doing sound check, they were my favorite part about being a pop star. Getting to meet people, getting to talk to my fans and take pictures with them, getting to be part of their memories – that was just one of the coolest things in the world for me.

I giggled as the brother and sister duo raced off with their mom, snatching the complementary gift bags off the table to the side, and turned to the next girl in line.

In-between pictures, I found myself looking down the line, trying to be as subtle about it as I possibly could. I could see James standing in line with a girl who could only be his sister. There was a definite family resemblance there – same hazel eyes, same tanned skin, same brown hair.

I saw her turn to James and give him a glowing smile, clearly worshipping him for the time being. Aww, they were so cute.

And damn, did James look hot in a simple pair of jeans and a black t-shirt. The jeans were just tight enough to give a hint at what rested under them, and the t-shirt hugged his chest and biceps snuggly without seeming obscene. It just wasn't fair that someone could look so good, it really wasn't. It shouldn't have been possible, and yet there he stood like a freaking Calvin Klein model, minus the half-nakedness. Sadly. I wouldn't mind if he suddenly decided to take up underwear modeling. He definitely had the body for it.

And yeah, I really shouldn't have been thinking about his body while I was taking pictures with little kids. That was just wrong.

I forced myself back to reality and greeted a girl about twelve or so with a wide smile. "Hey, sweetie. What's your name?"

"Chrissy," she replied, giving me a shy smile.

"That's such a pretty name," I told her. "So, what kind of picture do you want to do? A serious one? A silly one? A funny one? Just a normal one?"

She mulled it over for a moment, before saying, "A silly one."

"Okay." I gestured for her to come stand beside me and we faced the camera, wrapping our arms around each other. We made faces at Tommy, the photographer, and he grinned as he snapped the picture. Chrissy's mom came forward once the picture had been taken and stood with us so that I was in-between them.

Once the pictures were taken, they hurried off, and my stomach twisted slightly as James and his sister stepped forward. I surveyed them, a small smile crossing my face as I took in Shelby's obvious enthusiasm and James' reluctance, before fixing my gaze on him. "Hey, stranger," I greeted him. "I think you're at the wrong concert. This is a _pop_ show, not a rock one."

There was a long pause, and then James grinned at me. "You know, I thought something was off during the sound check. But it was hard to tell because there wasn't any auto tune."

"I don't use auto tune," I informed him. "What you hear in my songs is all me, nothing computerized about it."

"That's good to know." He shoved his hands in the pockets of his jeans, and I looked at Shelby.

"Hi, I'm Katie," I greeted her, smiling, and she practically bounced on her feet as she beamed back.

"Hi! I'm Shelby! And oh my gosh you're so pretty I was just saying to James how pretty you were wasn't I James?" she said in one huge breath. I had a feeling the girl had set of lungs on her.

"Yes, you were," James nodded, chuckling softly.

"Thanks!" I said brightly. "You're really pretty too," I added to Shelby.

Shelby smiled, and for a moment she seemed to glow like the sun, but then it disappeared as if a cloud had slipped by, covering it.

"So, what kind of picture do you want?" I asked her, reeling off the choices.

"Silly one," she said at once, and we went through the process of standing side by side and making faces at the camera. The picture was snapped, and Shelby stepped aside so that James could move forward.

I placed my hands on my hips, smirking at him. "So, what kind of picture do _you_ want, Mr. Rock Star?"

"You decide," he replied, crossing his arms over his chest so that his biceps bulged out. Well, that definitely helped with my decision. I might as well have some fun with the hot twenty year old guy who thought he was too good for a pop concert.

I grinned. "I want you to hold me."

"I – what?"

I could hear Shelby laughing uproariously as I repeated, "I. Want. You. To. Hold. Me. Pick me up."

"What…?"

"Pick me up, James."

"Is that even allowed…?"

"It is now." I walked over to him and he leaned down, scooping me up bridal style. I wrapped my arms around his neck, and we both smiled at the camera.

"No, no, no," Tommy called to us. "You two should look like you're in love. Or like you want to head off to the nearest store closet and screw. Either one."

I wondered how easy it would be to replace a photographer on a thirty second notice…

Nevertheless, I twisted around so that I was looking up into James' face. He gazed back at me, our eyes locking, my breath hitching slightly in my throat. I felt his arm shift under me, pulling me closer to him, and I lifted my head, reaching my hand up to cup his face, sliding my fingers over his jaw and down his neck.

"Hot damn!" I heard Shelby cry.

There was a clicking sound, and then Tommy said, "Okay, you two are good. Nice picture. Very hot."

A long pause followed Tommy's announcement, and then James slowly set me down softly on my feet. I straightened my clothes out and glanced at him out of the corner of my eye as Shelby walked back over to us, smirking knowingly at James. James rolled his eyes theatrically at her and Shelby's smirk widened at her.

I clapped my hands to get their attention. "So, how are we doing the group picture?"

Shelby grinned widely. "I have an idea."

One minute later, James was stuck between his sister and me, with Shelby in front of him, throwing an air punch at his face as he cocked his head dramatically to the side, while I was riding piggyback style on his back like I was trying to tackle him. I dug my nails into his scalp and he hissed, giving me a dirty look. I smirked at him and entwined my fingers in his hair, tugging softly and hoping that in the picture it would look like I was pulling. He bit his lip, eyes sliding down to avoid mine, and I swallowed, before forcing myself back to business.

I turned my knees in, digging them into his sides and reaching down to smack his ass. "Giddy up, horsy."

"I feel so used," he complained. "I also feel like I just joined some weird sex-kink-cult."

I snickered. "Hey, this was your sister's idea, so don't blame me."

Shelby threw me a grin, letting me know that she was enjoying herself quite a bit, before settling back into her pose.

Tommy took the picture and nodded at us. Shelby stepped away from James and I dismounted, sliding off his back.

"Complementary VIP bags are that-a-way," Tommy informed them, pointing in the direction of the table that sat just inside the exit.

Shelby beamed at him. "Kay, and thanks! James, come on! I hope there's a t-shirt in there!" She grabbed his hand and yanked him towards the table, where she snatched up two bags. I watched him rush her out the door as my security scowled at them and I grinned.

"Ah, come on, you guys weren't worried about me, were you?" I ribbed Cody, who was standing off to the side. He had been tense the entire time I had been taking pictures with James and Shelby, and he glowered at me.

"You just had to climb all over him, didn't you?"

I shrugged. "He's a hot guy. I wasn't going to let a body like that go to waste."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. You still have kids waiting to take pictures, so don't start talking dirty yet."

My grin widened and I turned back to the rest of the line. I was really hoping I was going to get to see James again.

* * *

**James' POV**

"That was awesome!" Shelby squealed the second we were outside the meet and greet room. "I can't believe you and Katie agreed to do the last pose."

"Tell me about it," I grumbled. "She dug her boot heels into my ribs. That hurt."

"Poor baby. I bet you liked it. You looked like you were enjoying yourself."

"Just remember who's paying for the stuff from the merch booth."

"Mom is, she just happened to give you the money."

"Exactly. She gave me the money, so that means I have control over whether or not you get anything."

She let out another squeal, this one outraged. "Okay, okay, I'll stop giving you a hard time!"

"Good. And by the way," I added as we walked in the direction I figured the merch stand was, "since when the hell do you say _hot damn_?"

Shelby faltered slightly. "Oh…um…did I say that? I think I meant _hot darn_…Does that even have the same meaning?"

"I don't think _hot darn_ means anything."

"See? _Hot damn_ is much more effective."

"Just don't let Mom hear you cussing, otherwise she'll wash your mouth out with soap and water and I'll have to start putting money in a swear jar for being such a bad influence on you."

"Do I look stupid enough to let Mom hear me cussing?" Shelby demanded, propping her hands on her hips. "Trust me, I'm keeping my four letter words to polite ones. It's the same way how I'll never let you see me kissing a boy."

I sputtered indignantly. "You better not have kissed a boy yet!"

"Don't worry, I haven't," she assured me. "But when I do, I'm going to make sure you're nowhere nearby so that you can't punch the poor boy."

"I would – never – " it was my turn to falter, and she raised an eyebrow knowingly.

"Uh huh. Sure."

"No one's touching my little sister."

"And how old were you when you had your first kiss? Or lost your virginity – wait, I don't want to know!" she cried, clapping her hands over her ears.

"Good, because I wasn't going to tell you," I said moodily once her hands had dropped back to her sides. "And by the way, I was too young for both, so don't follow my example."

"Like I would. Do I look like I want to get pregnant in high school?"

"No."

"Exactly. I don't want to, so I'm not going to. Anyway, we're here." She nodded towards the merch booth and stalked over to it, admiring the various items they were selling. I joined her once it had sunk in that my little sister was way smarter than I was.

Ten minutes later, we walked away from the merchandise booth, Shelby carrying a bag loaded with a t-shirt, a sweatshirt, a poster, a calendar, and a program.

We grabbed a snack at one of the vending stalls that had been set up throughout the venue, before using the restrooms quickly and heading back to the amphitheater, where we took our seats once more.

Melody5 went on at about eight-o-clock, and Shelby almost had a heart attack when, during a slow song, one of the boys pointed at her and made a heart.

She showed the heart attack by slapping my arm repeatedly and yelping, "Did you see that?! Did you see that?! Chad Newbank just pointed at me! He made a heart with his hands! Ohmigoshohmigoshohmigosh!"

I was never taking her to another concert where there were "hot" guys. This was just nightmarish.

After forty-five minutes of dance pop music and seventeen year old boys singing into wireless mics while performing rated G dance moves, Melody5 departed the stage, and we waited another fifteen minutes, a big clock on the Jumbotron screen counting down the seconds.

At nine-o-clock exactly, guitars began blaring, a drum beat blasted out, and the stage lit up with purple, pink, and blue lights, Katie appearing out of nowhere in the middle of the stage. She had changed into black leather pants, a blue top, a black leather jacket, and black boots zipped up over her pants.

She looked so fucking hot.

She began singing and the audience went nuts, screaming so loud I was pretty sure my eardrums had just been blown out. I wondered how long it would be before I had a headache just from listening to teenage girls scream their heads off.

That song ended, and another one started. Katie danced along to the music, clearly having a blast as she pretended to sing to her lead guitarist, before running across the stage and reaching down into the front row to high-five people.

Shelby sang along to the song at the top of her lungs, dancing like crazy. Even I got into it a little bit, tapping my foot and drumming my fingers against my thighs.

Eventually, Katie spoke into the microphone. "I want to slow things down for a few minutes. I hope you guys don't mind. This song is one of my favorites and it's a song that's really personal to me. I hope you guys like it." The next thing I knew, she was sitting down at the piano, her fingers flying over the keys as she began to sing the slow, sad song from the sound check. The rich tones of the piano melted smoothly with her voice, soft and lilting and sweet, filled with a heady mix of nostalgia and bitterness. At last, it ended and she looked out at the audience.

"This next one is also a slower song, and it's a cover. Any of you into Avril Lavigne?"

Shelby screamed happily, and even I had to grin, cheering.

Katie smiled out at the audience. "How about her song _Hush, Hush_?"

More cheers.

"Good. It's one of my favorites from her new album, and when I heard it I knew I had to cover it. I hope you enjoy it." And the next thing I knew, she was playing the notes for _Hush, Hush_ on the piano and singing the familiar words.

"'_Hush, hush, shh__  
__Hush, hush_

_I didn't mean to kiss you__  
__You didn't mean to fall in love__  
__I never meant to hurt you__  
__We never meant for it to mean this much__  
__Hush, hush, now_

_I wanted to keep you__  
__Forever next to me__  
__You know that I still do__  
__And all I wanted was to believe__  
__Hush, hush, now_

_So go on, live your life__  
__So go on, say goodbye__  
__So many questions__  
__But I don't ask why__  
__So this time I won't even try__  
__Hush, hush, now__  
__Mmm, hush, hush, now_

_When I try to forget you__  
__I just keep on remembering__  
__What we had was so true__  
__And somehow we lost everything__  
__Hush, hush, now__  
__(Hush, hush, now)_

_So go on, live your life__  
__So go on, say goodbye__  
__So many questions__  
__But I don't ask why, no__  
__So go on, live your life__  
__So go on, and say goodbye__  
__So many questions__  
__But I don't ask why__  
__Maybe someday__  
__But not tonight__  
__Hush, hush, now_

_Hush, hush, now__  
__Hush, hush, now_

_Don't, don't, don't you ever say a word, word__  
__Of what you ever thought you heard, heard__  
__Don't you ever tell a soul__  
__But you know__  
__I tried to hide, but I still believe__  
__We, that we were always meant to be, be__  
__And I can't never let you go, no__  
__Hush, hush, now_

_So go on, live your life__  
__So go on, and say goodbye__  
__So many questions__  
__But I don't ask why, no__  
__So go on, live your life__  
__So go on, and say goodbye__  
__So many questions, but I don't ask why__  
__Maybe someday__  
__But not tonight__  
__Hush, hush, now, mmm__  
__Hush, hush, now, mmm__  
__Hush, hush, shh…_'" She finished the song slowly, fingers moving gracefully over the keys before letting silence fall over the amphitheater.

And then the air was split in two as the cheers and screams once more exploded. Katie got to her feet, grinning. "So, anyone want to hear a couple more cover songs?"

More screams.

"I take it that's a _yes_?" her grin widened. "Okay, so this next one is a Demi Lovato one and one of my favorites by her. Also, it's on the radio pretty much every time I'm driving, so I hear it on a constant basis. Please give it up for _Heart Attack_!"

Shelby squealed. "I love that song!"

"Of course you would listen to Demi Lovato."

"Hey, Demi Lovato is awe – " She broke off as the song started.

"'_Puttin' my defenses up__  
__'Cause I don't wanna fall in love__  
__If I ever did that__  
__I think I'd have a heart attack_

_Never put my love out on the line  
__Never said yes to the right guy  
__Never had trouble getting what I want  
__But when it comes to you, I'm never good enough  
__When I don't care  
__I can play 'em like a Ken doll  
__Won't wash my hair  
__Then make 'em bounce like a basketball_

_But you make me wanna act like a girl  
__Paint my nails and wear high heels  
__Yea you, make me so nervous  
__That I just can't hold your hand_

_You make me glow, but I cover up__  
__Won't let it show, so I'm__  
__Puttin' my defenses up__  
__Cause I don't wanna fall in love__  
__If I ever did that__  
__I think I'd have a heart attack_

_I think I'd have a heart attack_

_I think I'd have a heart attack  
_

_Never break a sweat for the other guys__  
__When you come around, I get paralyzed__  
__And every time I try to be myself__  
__It comes out wrong like a cry for help__  
__It's just not fair__  
__Pain's more trouble than love is worth__  
__I gasp for air__  
__It feels so good, but you know it hurts_

_But you make me wanna act like a girl__  
__Paint my nails and wear perfume__  
__For you, make me so nervous__  
__That I just can't hold your hand_

_You make me glow, but I cover up__  
__Won't let it show, so I'm__  
__Puttin' my defenses up__  
__Cause I don't wanna fall in love__  
__If I ever did that__  
__I think I'd have a heart attack_

_I think I'd have a heart attack_

_I think I'd have a heart attack_

_The feelings got lost in my lungs__  
__They're burning, I'd rather be numb__  
__And there's no one else to blame__  
__So scared I take off and I run__  
__I'm flying too close to the sun__  
__And I burst into flames! _

_You make me glow, but I cover up__  
__Won't let it show, so I'm__  
__Puttin' my defenses up__  
__'Cause I don't wanna fall in love__  
__If I ever did that__  
__I think I'd have a heart attack_

_I think I'd have a heart attack_

_I think I'd have a heart attack__  
__I think I'd have a heart attack_

_I think I'd have a heart attack!_'" she finished to roaring applause. Katie took a moment to catch her breath before saying, "So, I'm actually dedicating this song to a guy in the audience who I met recently. He's really into rock music, which I personally think is funny because he was in Les Misérables recently, but hey, more power to him. He's in the audience tonight and I had no idea he'd be here, but that makes this all the better. This song is by Simple Plan, and I'm pretty sure he listens to them. If he doesn't, then he better go check them out once he's at home. So, enjoy everyone!"

"'_Another day, is going by, I'm thinkin' about you all the time  
But you're out there and I'm here waiting  
And I wrote this letter in my head 'cuz so many things were left unsaid  
But now you're gone and I can't think straight_

_This could be, the one last chance to make you understand, yeah_

_I'd do anything just to hold you in my arms  
To try to make you laugh somehow I can't put you in the past  
I'd do anything just to fall asleep with you  
Will you remember me? 'Cuz I know I won't forget you_

_Together we broke all the rules, dreamin' of droppin' out of school  
And leave this place to never come back  
So now, maybe after all these years  
And if you miss me have no fear, I'll be here and I'll be waitin'_

_This could be the one last chance to make you understand  
And I just can't let you leave me once again, yeah_

_I'd do anything just to hold you in my arms  
To try to make you laugh, somehow I can't put you in the past  
I'd do anything just to fall asleep with you  
Will you remember me? 'Cuz I know I won't forget you_

_I close my eyes and all I see is you, I close my eyes  
I try to sleep, I can't forget you, na na na, na na na  
And I'd do anything for you  
Na na na, na na na na_

_I'd do anything just to hold you in my arms  
To try to make you laugh, somehow I can't put you in the past  
I'd do anything just to fall asleep with you  
To fall asleep with you with you, yeah_

_I'd do anything to fall asleep with you  
I'd do anything, there's nothing I won't do  
I'd do anything to fall asleep with you  
I'd do anything 'cuz I know, I won't forget you_.'" The song ended and my jaw dropped. I couldn't believe she had just called me out. And not only that, but she had sang one of my favorite songs ever. _I'd Do Anything_ was the first song I had ever heard by them, and I had been hooked on them ever since. How had she known?!

Shelby stared at me. "Holy crap," she breathed out. "Katie Knight just dedicated a song to you."

I raked my fingers through my hair, staring up at the stage. "That's just…wow."

"That about sums it up." She patted my shoulder before turning back to watch as Katie began the next song.

An hour later, the concert ended in an explosion of purple, pink, and blue streamers, and Katie dashed off the stage, the house lights coming on a few seconds later.

Shelby and I both made our way out of the packed arena and through the Sanyoid Globalnet Center, neither saying anything even once we had burst out into the cool night air. A quick glance at my phone told me that it was a little after ten-thirty.

Definitely time to head home.

We walked back to the car and climbed in.

The ride home was quiet and uneventful, although getting out of the parking lot and through the nearby streets was a nightmare. Once we managed to fight our way through the worst of the traffic, however, the rest of the drive was fairly peaceful. Shelby listened to Katie's first CD and I didn't complain; I was too busy thinking about the fact that she had dedicated a song to me. I mean, yeah, it was a cover song but it still counted. And it was _that_ one. And that in itself had me wondering if there was a particular reason why she had chosen that song…Was there a hidden message in there? Had she been trying to tell me something?

It was almost eleven-thirty by the time we arrived home, and we climbed out, heading into the house.

Once we were standing in the entrance hall, Shelby turned to me. "Thanks. For tonight, I mean," she added with a small smile. "I had a blast, and I'm really happy you took me."

I smiled back. "I'm glad you had fun, and I'm kind of happy that I took you myself."

She hugged me quickly. "And by the way, I do think Katie's into you. There were other guys who had VIP and she didn't make them pick her up bridal style, and she didn't call any of them out either."

"Nothing's going to happen though," I said quietly. "She's a pop star and besides, we don't have any way to contact each other even if we did want to start something up."

Shelby shrugged. "If it's meant to be, it'll happen somehow. Anyway, I'm going to head up to bed. Night."

"Night." I watched as she walked up the stairs, shaking my head. No matter what she said, it wasn't going to happen with Katie and me.

But damn, it would have been great if something did.

* * *

**So, that's chapter five. And look, there were Jatie moments in it! Thank you for taking the time to read this, and please review! It'd mean a lot to me :)**


	6. Chapter 6 Picture This

**Disclaimer: I do not own Big Time Rush, Starbucks, or the chapter title, which is the name of a Big Time Rush song. So, um, please don't sue!**

**Taylor Shine: Thank you so much! I'm so happy you enjoyed it :) And thank you for taking the time to read and review, I really appreciate it.**

**Jazzy: Thank you so much! I'm happy you enjoyed it :) And thank you for reading and reviewing!**

**jazzy (if you're the same as the above Jazzy - and the Jazzy that's about to be below you, I'm sorry, I wasn't sure): I'm sorry for the wait, but I'm trying to update once a week so hopefully the updates will still come on a regular basis. And thank you for taking the time to read and review, it's much appreciated!**

**jazzyishawesome: Thank you for the cooing :) And thank you for taking the time to read and review, I really appreciate it!**

**Thank you so much for all the reviews, favorites, and follows! You guys seriously made a couple of crappy weeks that much better :)**

**A/N: Okay, so this is where any real cliched-ness begins. A couple of people have mentioned the possibility of cliches popping up in this story, due to the story line, and I think this chapter would be the one where any cliches start and hopefully end. Also, I want to mention that this story is going to be light and fluffy for awhile. I almost feel like this story could be split into two parts because when the drama hits, it's going to hit hard. But that won't be for awhile. Right now I'm just trying to let everything progress naturally because while I know you guys hate waiting for James and Katie to get together, I don't want to rush them into a relationship and not have it feel right or natural. Plus, I do have a plot that I'm trying to follow ;P**

**Another thing that I want to bring up is that this story is going to be long, more than likely over 20 chapters. I have it more or less planned out, but I'm still kind of going where the story takes me. For instance, this chapter was originally supposed to go a slightly different way, but I couldn't make it work. The next chapter also wasn't originally planned, but around the time I was writing chapter 4 or 5 it popped into my head and demanded to be added in.**

**One more thing. I am so sorry for the long wait with "Take the Heat", "Anywhere But Here", "Pull The Trigger", and "I Write Sins, Not Tragedies". I've been trying to work on every story I just mentioned but just as I'm starting to get into the chapter, this story pulls me right back to it. That's never really happened before, so I'm a little shocked. Not to mention the fact that I'm trying to work on stories that I have yet to post and this thing won't let me concentrate on them. It's driving me nuts. But I'll do my best to get the next chapters for all the stories up as soon as possible. It just might be a little while, and for that I'm so sorry.**

**Anyway, I think that about sums it up, and thank you if you managed to get through the extra long author's note! :)**

**Enjoy the chapter! :)**

* * *

**Chapter Six – Picture This**

**James' POV**

I spent the next couple of weeks slowly moving back to the dorm room I stayed in when I was at school. Even though my mom and sister lived in the same city as the college I was attending, it was a lot more convenient to just live on campus rather than drive through Los Angeles every day, twice a day.

It was on my way back from the college about a week before school began that I pulled into a Starbucks parking lot. It was hot and dry outside, and I was pretty sure if I didn't get something cold to drink I was going to end up passing out behind the wheel from heat stroke.

I parked in front of the coffee shop, shutting off the air conditioner, switching off the ignition, and almost collapsing once I got out of the truck. The hot California sunlight beat down on me and I adjusted my sunglasses, making sure they were covering my eyes as I crossed the parking lot and pushed inside. The smell of ground up coffee beans hit me full force the second I stepped across the threshold, but the air was cool and soft music was playing in the background.

I walked over to the counter, staring at the menu overhead before figuring out what I wanted.

The girl behind the counter looked up at me and flashed me a smile. "What can I do for you?"

"A strawberry lemonade iced tea would be great," I told her, watching as she punched it into the cash register.

"Will there be anything else for you?"

"Nope, that should do it."

She gave me the total and I pulled out my wallet, paying her before stepping back and off to the side.

"_James_?"

I looked around at the sound of my name and nearly jumped out of my skin when I spotted Katie Knight sitting in a corner chair, a book lying in her lap and a plastic Starbucks cup resting on the table beside her.

"Oh…hey." Yeah, like that wasn't awkward at all.

She smiled at me and I found myself smiling back. My order was called and I grabbed it. I had been planning on just heading home but I figured it couldn't hurt to spend a couple of minutes talking to Katie. Besides, she was watching me and it would be rude to just walk out of the coffee shop without trying to be friendly. And she could beat me at my own game. Granted, she had done it in a very public way, but it wasn't like anyone in the audience except Shelby knew who she was talking about.

I crossed the shop and sat down next to her, sipping on my drink. "How's it going?"

"Not bad." She curled up in the huge pleather armchair, legs tucked neatly under her. It was a reminder of how tiny she really was. On stage she could have been a giant, but sitting here in a coffee shop nothing could hide her height. "How about you?"

"Just been busy. I'm moving back into my dorm room," I added in explanation when she looked at me curiously.

"Oh yeah, I saw on the Le Mis program that you're going to the Los Angeles College of the Performing Arts – and wow, that's one hell of a mouthful," she added, laughing a little.

"You should try writing it out on an envelope," I told her with a grin. "Always the adventure."

"Mmm, sounds like it." Katie shifted in the chair. "Um, listen. I'm really sorry about calling you out like that in the middle of the concert. That was really unprofessional and pretty rude, especially considering the fact that you apologized to me at the theater."

I shrugged, taking another sip of my iced tea. "It's not really a big deal. And I love Simple Plan and that song's awesome."

"Oh, okay. Good. I'm glad. I didn't want you to think I was, like, this total bitch who can't let anything go. I wasn't going to say anything like that when I didn't think you were coming, but when I knew you were in the audience, my mouth kind of got the best in me."

"Happens to everyone," I assured her.

She smiled again. "So, when does school start for you?"

"On Monday." I made a face. "Which means actually getting up at a decent hour."

She laughed. "Depends on your definition of a decent hour. For me, the hours of decency don't begin until after ten."

"Same. But I have to get up at eight so that I can be at my first class, which starts at nine."

"You poor baby," she giggled. "At least you don't have to make a cross country dash across LA."

"Very true. So, what're you doing here? I mean, besides getting…whatever it is that you're drinking."

"It's an iced tea, and my recording studio is just a couple of blocks away. I like to come here to wind down sometimes after a recording session," she explained. "How about you? How'd you happen by here?"

"I was on my way back from the school and I figured I'd better get something to drink before heat stroke attacked me."

"Probably a good thing. I don't think your mom or sister would be very happy if you got hit with heat stroke, especially in downtown Los Angeles traffic. That wouldn't end well."

"Probably not," I agreed.

Katie chewed on her bottom lip for a moment. "Um…would you want to exchange cell phone numbers?" she asked after a moment. "I mean, if you don't that's totally cool, but…" She shrugged. "We keep running into each other, and maybe this is just my crazy pop star mind talking, but it kind of seems like the universe is trying to tell us something, you know?"

I slowly nodded, flashing back to what Shelby had said the night of the concert. "_If it's meant to be, it'll happen somehow_." While I wasn't really into the whole idea of the universe controlling what I did, I had to agree – the fact that this was the third time we had run into each other was a little odd. And I liked her. And it kind of seemed like she liked me.

"Yeah. Yeah, we should. Exchange numbers," I clarified quickly.

"Okay, cool." She smiled once more, looking a little relieved like she had been scared I might say _no_. I pulled my phone out and put her number in my phone, before giving her my number as well. "So," Katie said once she had taken her phone back. "Maybe we could hang out sometime?"

"Yeah, definitely," I nodded. "Hey, if you've never ridden in a Dodge Ram pickup, we could always go for a ride along the PCH or something."

She laughed. "Sounds like fun. And nope, I don't think I've ever ridden in one."

"It's not that thrilling, but hey, new experiences and all that, right?"

"Exactly," she grinned. "So, yeah, we should do that sometime." Her phone beeped and she checked it. "Damn it. I have to cut this short, I have to get back to the studio. So, I'll see you around?"

"Yeah." I nodded as we got to our feet and headed for the door. I held it open for her and she slipped through, tossing a glowing smile at me. My chest seemed to clench in on itself at the sight, and I found myself smiling back as I followed her out of the coffee shop.

"Well, I'm over here," she announced, nodding towards a gorgeous Lamborghini.

"And I'm over there," I put in, jerking my thumb at my truck.

"So that's what we're going to be cruising down the PCH in?" she asked with a grin.

"Damn straight."

"Can't wait." She waved at me as she walked towards her car and I chuckled, making my way over to my truck. I climbed in and pulled out of the parking lot, waving at her through my window as she went in the opposite direction.

* * *

**Katie's POV**

"So, have you seen your hot college student lately?" Camille asked me over the phone about a week after the run-in at Starbucks with James.

I raised an eyebrow as I shifted where I was sitting on my living room couch. I had a rare day off and I was using it by lounging around in front of the TV. Not exactly the most fun thing I could come up with, but since my friends were all busy, there wasn't much else I could do. Camille was in-between shooting scenes and she had taken the time to give me a quick call to see how I was doing.

"I saw him last week, but nope, that's it. I texted him a couple of times though. School started for him on Monday, and I've been busy with work, so…"

"Gotcha. You should call him and see if he has some free time to hang out today, since you have the day off."

"Maybe I will…" I said thoughtfully, glancing at the clock. It was just a little after one. I knew James' last class would have just ended, which meant if he didn't have a ton of homework it was entirely possible that he might be able to hang out for a little while.

"You should. Oh, I gotta get back to set. Text me to let me know what happened! Bye!" She hung up and I stared at the phone as _call ended_ flashed across the screen.

Shaking my head, I got into my contacts and called James, holding my breath as I listened to the ringing on the other end. Just as I was thinking that maybe I should hang up, I heard a breathy, "Hello?"

"Hey…um…it's Katie."

"Oh, hey," he said, sounding like he was in the middle of a 5K race. "What's up?"

"Not much. Am I interrupting something?" Oh my God, what if I called him while he was in the middle of having sex with a girl?! I knew I should have texted him first.

"No, not at all. I just made a mad dash across campus."

"Okay…why?"

"Felt like I needed the exercise. Running is good for stamina," he added cheekily and I blushed.

"That is…really good to know."

"Isn't it? Anyway, what's up?"

"Well, I have a free day off and I was wondering if you wanted to hang out."

"I'd love to, but I actually need to go pick up a couple more things at my mom's house. But I could always swing by your place if you wanted to come with me. I'm sure Shelby would love to see you again."

I smiled a little. "Yeah, I'd love to."

"Awesome. What's your address?"

I reeled it off to him and he let out a sharp breath.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing. It's just, that's a pretty prestigious area."

"Eh, I guess. It's not really all that great. The only thing luxurious about it is what I paid so that I could buy the house."

"So why are you living there?"

"My mom and brother and management team thought it'd be safer, since it's in a gated community. Which reminds me, I need to call security and let them know that you're on your way."

"Wow."

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Bullshit." I adjusted the phone. "What is it?"

"I just don't think I know anyone besides you who actually lives in a gated community."

"Oh. Well, there's a first time for anything."

"Right. Anyway, I'll be there in a little while."

"Sounds good. See you soon."

"See you soon."

We hung up, and I immediately rushed upstairs so that I could shower and throw on actual clothes, instead of just staying in the sweats and old t-shirt I had been wearing.

Forty-five minutes later I was dressed in jean shorts, a t-shirt with the tail tied up, and Converse sneakers. My hair was pulled back in a high ponytail, and I was wearing light makeup. I examined my appearance in front of my bedroom's full length mirror, twisting one way and turning another, trying to make sure that I looked hot, but not slutty; that I looked casual, but didn't seem like I was trying too hard.

I heard the intercom buzz, and I dashed downstairs to the entrance hall. I pressed the intercom button. "Yes?"

"James Diamond just arrived," the security guard informed me.

"Send him in."

I rushed back upstairs to grab my purse, phone, and keys. I was halfway down the stairs when the doorbell echoed through the house like a gong.

I hurried to the door and threw it open. James stood there in basketball shorts and a t-shirt, his pickup parked in my circular driveway.

"Hey," he greeted me, twirling his key ring around his finger. "Ready to go?"

"Yep." I gave him a bright smile and stepped outside, locking up the front door. He led me down the steps to the truck, and opened the passenger door for me. "So you can be a gentleman when you want to be." I flashed him a smirk as I climbed in.

He reached up, tugging my hair in retaliation. "Yeah, but don't push too hard."

I giggled as he closed the door and climbed in on the other side. We buckled up, he slipped the key into the ignition, and we were off.

"So," I said as I leaned back against the leather seats, sun-warmed and smooth, "how's school going?"

"Not too bad."

"What classes are you taking?"

"My nine-o-clock class is dance, my ten-o-clock class is music appreciation, and my eleven-o-clock class is drama rehearsal."

I frowned. "Your last class goes for two hours?"

"Yeah, it's the one that puts on the plays or musicals."

"And you can take it repeatedly? I mean, I know you've been in at least one other musical for the college."

"Yeah. Basically it's numbered differently – like this quarter, its Drama 110, 112, 115, so on and so forth. That way you can take it pretty close to as many times as you want without losing the credits from the rehearsal class you took last quarter."

"That's really confusing." I furrowed my brow, tugging on my bottom lip with my index finger. "I really don't get the whole numbering system."

"Basically, each class has a number – Drama 110, Dance 250, that sort of thing. And you can't take a Drama 110 or a Dance 250 or a Music 300 more than once. But because the rehearsal class is something that people need to do repeatedly, it's set up as several different classes, when in reality it's just one huge one."

"Oh, okay. Like a way to cheat the system."

He nodded, jerking his thumb at me. "Exactly."

"Okay, I think I get it now. So it's kind of a way to make sure you don't accidentally repeat classes?"

"Yeah, but it can fuck people up as well. They'll bring in new classes and renumber everything and then a class that you need might have the same number as a class you already took. So, you can take the class, you'll just lose the credits for the previous class and have to retake it."

"Which means more money is paid out and you have to stay at the school longer than you planned."

"Right."

"That sucks. They shouldn't be allowed to do that."

"They shouldn't be allowed to, but they are."

I shook my head. "That's just crap. I wonder if my older brother has to go through that."

"Kendall, right? The one who goes to UCLA?"

"Yeah, that's him. I hear he's friends with one of your friends."

"Carlos, yeah. I met Kendall and Logan the last night of Le Mis."

"Yeah, I heard. I would have come, but I had an interview on _Let's Talk LA Live_," I explained. "Otherwise I definitely would have been there."

James shrugged. "Work is more important sometimes."

"Yeah, I guess. But it kind of sucks sometimes. Especially since I had to answer questions about my relationship with Natalia Walker and whether or not I'm seeing anyone."

"Who the fuck is Natalia Walker? And are you – I thought you were straight – "

I busted out laughing at the confused look on his face. "I didn't mean a romantic relationship! Oh my gosh, gross! I mean, it's not gross, it's just its Natalia Walker and we pretty much hate each others' guts, so that is gross but – you know what I mean…"

"I think so."

"Anyway, Natalia Walker is my costar in _Haunted University_, the movie who everyone is going to go see just so that they can make fun of it. Natalia and I didn't get along when we were filming it and word got out. So of course, Misty Lively, the talk show host, just had to ask me about Natalia, and I acted like we were the best of friends." I rolled my eyes. "Don't believe what you hear about actors and singers telling the truth. They only say what they're told to by their publicist and manager."

"That doesn't surprise me."

I watched as he signaled and moved over into the left lane. His fingers were splayed out on the wheel, his forearms taut, nothing but vein, muscle, and skin.

"I mean," he continued on, making the left turn, "it's not like you're going to go on national TV and say 'I really hate this girl, she's a total bitch' or anything like that. The media would have a field day with that, and the public would be really disappointed, and there'd probably be a whole bunch of backlash against you."

"Exactly." I nodded. "And it sucks, because I'm going to be stuck doing a press tour with her, and I'm pretty sure we're going to end up killing each other."

"Don't do that, 'cause then there will be even more bad publicity."

I stuck my tongue out at him.

"Anyway, what'd you say about the whole dating-anyone question…?"

I smirked. "Guess you'll just have to watch the interview to find out."

"You're not going to tell me?"

"And make things easy for you? Nope."

"Rude."

I shrugged. "Whatever helps you sleep at night."

"Mmm hmm. Sure."

"Since you're a college student living on your own and everything, are you working anywhere?"

"I am, actually. At the sporting goods store near campus. I worked there last year too. They let me go during the summer so that I could do Le Mis, and they were nice to hire me again once the musical was finished."

"That was nice of them," I agreed.

"It was." He pulled onto a pretty street, with neat houses and emerald green lawns. Toyotas and Fords were parked in the driveways, and little kids played hopscotch on the sidewalk.

It looked peaceful.

Perfect.

Like heaven.

James parked the truck in front of a gorgeous white and blue two story house and we climbed out. "I just realized, Shelby's not even going to be home. She's going to be bummed that she missed you," he said as we walked up to the front porch.

"Where is she?"

"School. She won't be home until around three."

"Ah. Well, if you don't have anywhere else you have to be, we could always stick around until she gets home."

He smiled at me, bright and blinding, and then he opened the front door and we stepped inside.

"Mom?" he called through the house. "I'm here! And I have a friend."

"Carlos?" Mrs. Diamond came walking into the room. She was a tall, slim woman who clearly cared about what she looked like. She looked as if she had just gotten home from work even though it was the middle of a Friday afternoon. She wore a wine colored dress suit and matching heels, and she was clutching her phone.

"Nope, just a random girl he picked up off the street," I said with a smile.

Mrs. Diamond smiled back. "Katie Knight, right? It's so nice to meet you."

"You too, Mrs. Diamond."

"Please," she waved her hand airily, "call me Brooke."

"I can definitely do that."

"So, I take it you're here to pick up your CDs and guitar?" Brooke asked James, who nodded.

"Yeah. Hey, I was going to ask you over the phone – how come you're home so early? It's a Friday afternoon, shouldn't you be at work?"

"I took the afternoon off, I haven't been feeling well lately."

"Are you okay?" James asked worriedly. "Are you sick?"

"It's probably just a cold, but I figured it was better to be safe than sorry. My boss isn't happy, but he can't complain, I never take any time off."

"Do you need anything? Do you want me to run out to the store and get you some tea or soup or something?"

"I'm fine," Brooke assured him. "Don't worry about me. It's just a slight sore throat. Go upstairs and get your stuff. Are you two staying awhile?" she added as James headed for the stairs.

"Yeah. We figured we'd stay until Shelby got home, so that she could see Katie," James answered, taking the steps two at a time.

Brooke chuckled as she watched him go.

"Do you need anything?" I asked her. I had the distinct impression that she would have told James she was fine even if she was dying from the Black Plague.

"I'm okay. I might make myself some tea, though…Would you like some?"

"Only if it's not too much trouble."

"No trouble at all." She led me into the kitchen and grabbed a kettle off the stove, filling it up with water before setting it back on the burner. She turned the stove on before gesturing to a rack laden with boxes of tea. "Help yourself to whatever kind you want."

James joined us a few minutes later carrying a shoebox. "I'm gonna put my stuff out in the car," he told me.

"Okay." I watched as he walked out of the kitchen before turning back to Brooke. Once James came back in, we sat down in the living room with our tea and chatted away until Shelby walked in.

"Oh my gosh!" she cried when she saw me sitting on the couch. "You're here! In my living room!"

"Talking to your mom and brother," Brooke smiled.

I stood up so that I could hug Shelby. "Good to see you again."

"Yeah…you too." She stared at me, completely star struck, and I fought back a laugh as James rolled his eyes dramatically. She was so adorable.

Before I could say anything else to her, James pulled his phone out. His eyes scanned over the screen, before he texted something back. A moment later, his phone audibly vibrated, and he read the new text. He looked over at Shelby and me. "Hey, Katie. Do you eat pizza?"

I furrowed my brow. "Um…yeah. Sometimes."

"What's _sometimes_?"

"I don't know. Just once in awhile, I guess. I eat pretty healthy for the most part. I have a nutritionist who's constantly on my case. I have a food journal and everything that I'm supposed to have her look at to make sure I'm not pigging out on crap."

"Seriously?" James' eyebrows shot up. "Your food is monitored?"

"Yeah. I mean, I'm an actress and a singer, and I have a tiny frame. I have to be careful what I eat."

"Because of health reasons?"

"I guess. And to keep away from any controversy if I gain weight. I mean, most pop stars have their weight and bodies exploited in tabloid magazines. I'm trying really hard to make sure that that doesn't happen to me."

"You weigh, like, ninety pounds wet. I don't think that's going to happen," James informed me.

I shrugged. "You never know. Anyway, why'd you ask about pizza?"

"Because your brother, Logan, and Carlos are heading to this really good pizza place and they wanted to know if we'd want to come."

I frowned. "They know I'm with you?"

"They do now."

I bit my lip uncertainly. "I guess I could just get a salad or something…"

"Or you could eat a nice, hot, gooey slice of pizza," James replied with a wicked grin. "You ever been to Antonio's Pizzeria?"

"Nope." I popped the P.

"The pizza is better than sex."

"Yeah, okay, I'll take your word for it." I shrugged. "I'll go with you, but don't expect me to eat whatever you guys are eating."

He just smirked in response.

"Can I go?" Shelby piped up. "Pleeeaaasse?"

James glanced at me, and I nodded.

"Sure," he told her. "The more the merrier. If you don't mind," he added to Brooke.

"Not at all. You three have fun. Just make sure you have her home by eleven. And don't take her to any college or Hollywood parties you might come across."

"We'll behave ourselves," he said, kissing her cheek. "Come on, let's head out."

The three of us walked out of the house to his truck. Since I was the smallest, I was placed in the middle seat with James and Shelby on either side of me. James started the truck, and we were off.

* * *

**Okay, so I have to admit that this chapter and chapter 7 were originally going to be combined, but then I realized that this chapter would be twice as long so I went ahead and just kept them separate.**

**Anyway, what'd you guys think of this chapter? Did you love it? Hate it? Like it okay? Like I said, I'm trying to keep James' and Katie's relationship natural, so hopefully I'm succeeding.**

**I also want to do a couple of quick shout outs: collussus96 has several James/Katie stories up and she always reads and reviews my stuff, and I'm slacking on reading her stuff. But anyway, you guys should go check out her stories because they're awesome and one of them is even sci-fi! Sci-fi, people! Also, dawnindanite just updated her story "Demon Hunters", which is amazing and if you like "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" or "Angel" you're probably going to love it. I also need to read the next chapter (sorry! I'm slacking on my Jatie reading lately!), but the rest of the story has been amazing so far, so please go check it out, and show both authors some love :)**

**Thank you for reading, and please review! :)**


	7. Chapter 7 I Can't Say No to You

**Disclaimer: I do not own Big Time Rush, anything recognizable in this chapter (like iTunes, which is property of Apple), or the chapter title, which comes form the song "Just Like Chocolate" by The Dollyrots.**

**Taylor Shine: Thank you! And I'm glad that it made your day a little bit better :) Thank you for taking the time to read and review, I really appreciate it!**

**Dia: Haha thanks! Those stories drive me nuts, especially when the characters don't know each other that well, so that's why my stories don't have those types of plots. But I hope you can handle them being relatively platonic for a little while and that it won't drive YOU nuts. :) Thank you for taking the time to read and review! It's much appreciated :)**

**jazzy: Ah, thanks for clearing that up for me :) Thank you! I'm so happy you're enjoying it! And thank you for reading and reviewing! I appreciate it so much :)**

**Thank you to everyone for the alerts and reviews! It makes me so happy to know that you guys are still enjoying this story :)**

**A/N: Okay, first of all, I think this is the first time I'm using lyrics, rather than a story name, for a chapter. I was originally going to name this chapter "Just Like Chocolate", but it didn't fit. The lyrics that I do use, however, work a little better.**

**I was debating about whether or not I wanted to post this tonight since it's Valentine's Day and I try not to update/post anything on holidays (Christmas Eve does not count apparently, since I've posted two one shots that night). However, this is one of my favorite chapters so far, and as long as I have stuff written for this story, I'm planning on posting on a fairly regular basis, as long as I know that people are reading it and liking it. And yes, for me this means posting once a week. If I did it more often than that, I would quickly run out of chapters, unless I suddenly had a whole bunch of free time on my hands, and a muse who sprinkles inspiration dust over me while I type. I totally need one of those. Anyway...**

**So, I think that's about it :)**

**Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

**Chapter Seven – I Can't Say No to You**

**Katie's POV**

Antonio's Pizzeria was about ten minutes away from the Diamonds' house, located in a strip mall and nudged neatly between a lingerie store and a dry cleaner's.

"Cool," I commented when James parked the pickup in front of the pizzeria. "People can stop in and grab a slice if they get hungry while bra shopping and having their delicates dry cleaned."

James grinned at me. "Exactly. We should do that sometime."

Shelby rolled her eyes and opened the passenger door. "If you two decide to go lingerie shopping, please make sure I'm nowhere near by."

"You have my word," James promised her. I scooted out after Shelby, and James climbed down. He locked the truck up and we headed towards the strip mall. We had just stepped up onto the curb when we were hailed by a group of three men: Kendall, Logan, and someone who I could only assume was Carlos.

I had met Logan several times at barbecues and birthday parties, but I had yet to meet Carlos.

My immediate impression of him was that he was a boundless ball of energy, bouncing along ahead of the other two guys.

He grinned at James. "Hey, dude. Hey, Shelb."

Shelby smiled at Carlos brightly and I had to fight back a giggle. She was already about an inch taller than him, but Carlos seemed to take it in stride, pulling her into a huge bear hug before pouting at her. "You need to stop growing, you're making me look short."

"You do that all by yourself," Logan quipped, and Carlos stuck his tongue out at him.

"She's almost as tall as you, Logie. Just another inch or so and she'll have caught up with you."

Logan shrugged. "I'm still not as short as you."

"And I'm not as short as you," Kendall grinned. "So just remember that. And James is the tallest."

Everyone turned to look at James, who seemed to tower over every single person in the vicinity.

Shelby grinned widely. "Yeah, he's a giant. But our mom's tall too."

"What about your dad?" Kendall wanted to know. "Is he pretty tall?"

The grin slipped slowly from her face. "Yeah, I guess," she replied, her tone turning clipped. "I don't really remember."

"Ah, okay." Kendall looked confused, but nevertheless he gestured towards the pizzeria. "Shall we head in?"

"Yeah, let's go," James nodded, leading the way inside. The second I stepped into the restaurant the scent of tomato sauce and garlic hit my senses, making my mouth water and my stomach rumble.

The host led us to a large table in a corner by the window. We had a fantastic view of the parking lot, and I could see James glancing out it towards his truck.

We took our seats, with me settling between James and Shelby, and Kendall sitting on Shelby's other side. I could see her glancing at him almost curiously, the tension from five minutes before completely forgotten. I quirked an eyebrow in amusement, before glancing over at James. He smiled at me as the waitress approached, setting glasses of water in front of us and asking if we would like anything else to drink.

We winded up getting different pitchers, one of iced tea and one of coke, before consulting our menus.

"So, should we just get a couple of large pies?" Kendall wanted to know.

"Or maybe just one?" Logan shot back. "We can get the monster size one, that way there's plenty for everyone."

"I'm just planning on getting a salad," I spoke up. "So…"

"Are you sure you don't want any pizza?" James asked, turning sideways to face me in the booth. "Not even a bite?" He pouted at me. "Or an entire slice?"

"I'm sure."

"Really?" He scooted closer to me, his arm brushing against mine. "Because I don't think you are. You're tempted."

I swallowed, before glaring at him. "I'm not tempted in the least. I'm perfectly happy with a salad."

"But why would you eat salad when you can have pizza? Nice and hot and gooey and greasy and messy…doesn't that sound so much better than a pile of lettuce?"

Yes.

"No."

James slid an arm around my shoulders as I continued to glower at him. "When was the last time you had pizza?"

"Yeah, Katie, what's it been, a year ago?" Kendall asked as he poured himself a glass of coke.

"Something like that," I said through gritted teeth.

James smirked widely and flipped my menu open to the pizza selections. "Pick your poison."

I let out a huffy breath, making it very clear that I was being peer-pressured into it, but nevertheless jabbed at the pepperoni, mushroom, olive, and green pepper choice. "This one."

James grinned at me. "Excellent choice."

"You're a manipulator."

"No, I was serious. That's my favorite."

"You're still a dirty rotten manipulator. That was low."

He shrugged and sipped on his lemonade. "Who the hell comes to a pizza place for a salad?"

"I do."

"Again, you're, like, ninety pounds wet. You need some pizza in you. Hot, greasy, gooey, messy – "

"Are you talking about pizza, or sex?" Carlos asked bluntly.

"Dude, not in front of my little sister!" James hissed.

"What? She's fourteen, she knows about sex."

"And she goes to public high school," I put in. "She probably knows more about it than I do."

"What do _you_ know?" Kendall demanded.

I stared at him. "You do know I'm eighteen, right?"

"I don't care."

"_Anyway_," James interceded. "Carlos, I was not talking about sex, I really was talking about pizza."

"Oh." He pouted in disappointment. "I thought maybe that whole thing was code for something."

"You're going to ruin pizza for me," Shelby informed Carlos. "You know that, right? Now I'm forever going to connect it to my older brother's sex life."

"Yeah, dude. Nice going," Kendall added, smacking Carlos around the back of the head.

"Ow!" he whined. "It was just a question!"

I shook my head and turned back to James. "So, you come here a lot?"

He shrugged. "Often enough."

A familiar song blasted over the radio playing in the background, and I smiled a little, recognizing the singer at once.

"Hey," Carlos spoke up again as if he could read my mind. "Katie, you're friends with Lucy Stone, right?"

I blinked. Clearly he knew she sang this song. "Yeah, she's really cool. We're signed to the same label. Why?"

"Oh, it's just this song came on and I remembered that James listens to her sometimes. You know him and rock music."

I smiled a little. "Ah. Well, she's really cool. If you want, I can get you VIP to her next concert," I added to James.

"Nah, that's okay," he shrugged. "I don't need VIP. If I want to go I can just get tickets myself."

"Are you sure? Because I could probably get them for free for you – "

"I'm positive." He smiled at me. "Don't worry about it."

"I – okay – "

The waitress arrived and we ordered two pizzas – one with James' and my preferred ingredients, and one with everything on it.

James stretched out, and Shelby started a conversation up with Kendall. Logan and Carlos began chatting about one of their classes, so I glanced at James. "So, you play the guitar?"

He nodded, rolling his shoulders once. Not that I noticed. At all. I totally didn't stare at his muscles bulging under his thin t-shirt. Not in the least. "Yeah."

"What kind?"

"Acoustic and electric. My old amp blew out this summer, so I'm planning on getting a new one in a couple of days. There's a sale down at a music store near the campus."

"What kind of amplifier are you planning on getting?"

"Just a small ten watt. Since I'm in a dorm room, I can't get one too loud, otherwise the other people in the building will complain. The one I'm looking at has a place to plug in headphones, so I won't bother anyone when I play."

"How long have you been playing?"

He sipped on his lemonade, and I poured myself a glass while I waited for him to answer. "Since I was seven."

"Who taught you? Did you take lessons?" And whoa, since when was I so interested in guitars? I mean, I definitely had a weakness for musicians, particularly guitar players, but I was practically hammering him with questions. Maybe my blood sugar level was a little high…

"My dad," he said shortly. "He taught me. And then I taught myself. I can play by ear," he added in explanation when I looked at him curiously.

"Really?" I smiled. "That's pretty cool. So can you just pick up any instrument and play it?"

"Pretty close to it, yeah. I mean, it might take me a couple of days – "

"Or a couple of hours," Shelby interrupted. "He's _good_."

"He really is," Carlos agreed, bobbing his head. "He's like the future Mick Jagger."

We all stared at him.

"I think you mean Keith Richards," James said. "Mick Jagger is the Rolling Stone's front man."

"Oh. Well, I meant one of them," he said brightly.

Our pizza arrived along with plates, and we dug in hungrily. For a few minutes there was nothing but the sound of chewing and the occasional clink of cutlery on plates.

Kendall had just finished his first piece and was reaching for his second when he announced, "Oh, by the way, I'm not going to be able to make it to the show tomorrow. The coach called an extra hockey practice. He's getting worried since our first game of the year is next week and some of the guys aren't quite up to the level he thought they would be."

I blinked. "What show?"

"Oh, there's a show at my school," James told me, popping a stray olive into his mouth. "A concert, I should say. It's for this new band, Purple Giraffe. Have you heard of them?"

I shook my head.

"Okay. They're pop punk. Anyway, they're playing at LACPA tomorrow. Hey, since Kendall can't go, would you want to?"

I blinked again. Going to a rock show for a band I'd never heard of at a school I'd never been to…yeah, that really sounded like a good idea. But then I turned my head and found myself gazing into James' big hazel eyes and I immediately melted. "Yeah, sure, it might be fun," I smiled.

He grinned. "Awesome."

"Can I go?" Shelby immediately wanted to know.

"Sorry," James told her. "Mom would never let me bring you to a college show."

"Aww, why not?" she pouted.

"Because a lot of things happen at college concerts, like drinking and drugs."

She scowled.

"What about Erica and Alyssa?" James wanted to know. "Aren't you going to be hanging out with them?"

"Probably. But it'd be awesome to be able to tell them that I saw a college show."

"Ah. Well, it's not going to happen this year."

"Crap." Shelby sighed dramatically. "I guess we're just going to sit around and watch a stupid teen movie again."

"Good. Make sure it's a light PG13."

She threw him a disgusted look. "I'm fourteen, not ten."

"Do I look like I care?"

I interrupted them. "When does the show start?"

"Eight," James answered. "But if you want you can come by early and we can hang out."

"Sure," I smiled.

"Do you know where the school is?"

"Yeah, I have to pass by it sometimes. Do you just want to meet at your dorm room…?"

He nodded. "We can do that. I'm in the Paul McCartney dorm."

I blinked. "They named the dorms after the Beatles?"

"After famous singers and actors."

"Ah."

He nodded, helping himself to a second slice of pizza. "Do you know where the dorms are?"

"Roughly."

James gave me directions to his dorm room before adding, "If you have trouble finding it, we can just meet someplace. That might be better."

"Nah, it's cool. I want to see your dorm room. I've never been in one."

"It's nothing special. It's not as small as some are, but it's not exactly huge."

I shrugged. "Hey, it's college. What do you expect?"

He nodded. "Anyway, maybe we can grab dinner before the show? If you want healthy they do have some decent places to eat on campus. And if you want junk food, the place is teaming with pizza and cheeseburgers."

"And corndogs," Carlos grinned happily. "That place has some of the best corndogs I've ever eaten. I need to grab a couple when I'm there tomorrow."

We finished eating and paid the bill, splitting the check four ways. We refused to let Shelby chip in since she was only fourteen and, as James put it, should be saving her money for lip gloss. We were just heading out when Shelby got a text from her friend, Alyssa, begging her to come over and spend the night so that she could tell her all about her new boyfriend.

From what I could tell, Shelby responded gracefully enough but her mood noticeably soured.

"What's up?" I asked her, playfully bumping my shoulder against hers as best I could, given the height difference.

"Nothing," she sighed, staring down at the ground.

"I don't buy it. What's going on? You were fine until your friend texted you."

"It's just…" she sighed, and everyone paused to look at her. "Alyssa always has a boyfriend. _Always_. And I can't even get a hot guy to notice me. I've never even flirted with a boy before."

"There's nothing wrong with that," I said quietly. "I know a couple different women, both absolutely gorgeous and just amazing people, who didn't even start dating until they were in their twenties. With the one, guys never noticed her. With the other, she was too busy with school, college, and work to even look at boys. They both did end up getting boyfriends, it just took some time for them to find the right guy. And you're only fourteen, you're still pretty young."

"You've dated a couple of guys," she pointed out.

"Yeah, well…" I blew my bangs out of my eyes. "There were extenuating circumstances with those guys."

"Such as?" she pressed.

"Such as with my first boyfriend, we were quite literally set up. You know he was on _These Days Are Ours_, right?"

"Yeah."

I could feel James' eyes burning into me as I continued. "Okay, so he was playing my character's first boyfriend. Well, first _real_ boyfriend, anyway, since she was a little flirt once she hit her preteens. The producers of the show got together with our publicists and basically suggested that Jared and I go out. I was fourteen at the time, and he was sixteen, and neither of us were very happy about the idea of fake dating. I wanted an actual boyfriend, and Jared already had a girlfriend. He had to break it off with her very quietly, or at least that was what he was told to do."

"But he didn't," Shelby recalled. "I remember reading in _Pop Tiger_ that he broke up with her to go out with you."

"Yeah. Well, the girlfriend threw a fit and all the publicists had to come up with something. So they chose that. And then later on, they 'revealed'," I held my fingers up in quotation marks, "that I hadn't been aware that he had had a girlfriend when we had begun dating. So Jared became a teenage bad boy who suddenly all the girls wanted – because, you know, who doesn't want a cheater? – and I became the sweetheart who had been wronged in her first relationship. Whoop-dee-freaking-doo."

"But it was good for both of your careers," James said once I had fallen silent. "Because Jared Echols became a huge action movie star. And they're trying to figure out if they can get him a record deal or not."

I groaned. "Of course they are."

"What happened to his girlfriend?" Shelby wanted to know.

"She's still singing. She's pretty famous now."

"Who is she?"

I smiled, a little bitterly. "Lucy Stone."

Her jaw dropped. "Oh my gosh, how did I not know that?"

"Probably because she wasn't famous at the time. She was doing some modeling and acting work to get a boost up into the world of rock and roll. Her first single basically consisted of her telling Jared where to go. It was a huge hit."

"Was it 'You Dumped Me for Her'?" Shelby asked eagerly.

"No, that one came a couple of years later. That really was her biggest hit. And she wrote it about my darling brother." I smirked at Kendall.

He groaned. "Okay, seriously?"

"Wait, what happened?" Shelby demanded.

"Okay, so first of all, Kendall and I have known Jo Taylor for a pretty long time. Jo and I guest starred on each other's shows and we became really close. Kendall and Jo started dating when they were sixteen, but broke up after a couple of years because Jo was moving to New Zealand for three years to film some movie about demigods. Total _Percy Jackson_ rip-off. Anyway, while she was gone, I had started hanging out with Lucy. By this time she knew what had gone down with Jared and me, and she knew circumstances had been out of my control. In the meantime, she and Kendall were hanging out, getting to know each other, flirting, getting sucked into the huge, hot fiery ball of sexual tension. Basically they dated for all of five minutes, Jo came back, and Kendall chose Jo over Lucy. And Lucy got mad, wrote a whole album's worth of songs about him – "

"Which you helped with," Kendall grumbled.

" – and ended up cementing her name as the new pop punk princess. And she never told anyone who the song was about."

"I didn't know you were dating Jo Taylor," Shelby commented to Kendall, looking a little disappointed.

"We're off again right now."

"They're as bad as Logan and Camille Roberts," I rolled my eyes. "For some reason, you guys just can't seem to stay with the girls, or stay away from them."

"Oh, um, this is supposed to be all top secret," Logan said to Shelby. "So if you could not tell anyone, we would all really appreciate it."

"I won't breathe a word about it to a single person," she promised, nodding eagerly.

He smiled at her. "Thanks."

James checked the time on his phone before addressing Shelby. "We need to get going if you're going to have enough time to pack before Mom takes you over to Alyssa's."

She nodded. "Okay."

"Are you riding home with James?" Kendall asked me, and I paused, glancing up at James.

He nodded. "If you don't mind making a detour, then yeah, you're more than welcome to."

I turned to Kendall. "I guess I am. I'll see you soon."

"See you later, baby sister." He hugged me, and then I hugged Logan and Carlos as well, before heading towards James' pickup with him and Shelby. We climbed in, buckled up, and James got the truck started.

"Anyway," James said to Shelby as we sped down the road. "I'm totally cool with you not having any boyfriends. Boys only have – "

"One thing on their minds, and it's not studying." She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, you've told me that about fifty billion times."

"And it never hurts to reiterate. Anyway, one of the reasons why the boys don't seem to notice you is because you're so smart and independent. They're intimidated."

I blinked. "Wait, that actually happens?"

James shrugged, flipping on his turn signal and switching lanes. "It can. Girls can be scary, especially when they're smart and independent and just happen to be insanely gorgeous. _You're_ a little scary."

"I'm not entirely sure what to say to that…"

"Anyway," he continued on, glancing at Shelby for just a second. "Maybe boys do notice you and you just don't realize it. That also happens."

"Not to me."

"If you don't realize it, then of course you're not going to think it's happening."

We pulled up in front of the Diamonds' house once again, and Shelby got out. "See you later," she said to us.

We waved at her and James stayed parked in the driveway until she had gotten inside safely. I slid into her vacated seat, stretching my legs out.

"So," I grinned wickedly once we were on the road again. "Let's talk about boys and how they only have one thing on their minds."

"Well, Katie," he smirked. "Boys are terrible people and I don't think you should go out with them."

"You're right. I should really go out with a man." My grin widened when his cheeks flamed red hot.

"Oh really?" he asked as he pulled up to a stop sign.

"Yes, really."

"You have anyone in mind?"

"I do as a matter of fact. He's about twenty, a little over six feet tall, and has dark hair and these amazingly gorgeous hazel eyes. I could get lost in them all day. Am I scary now?"

His breath caught and he turned his head to look at me, our eyes meeting. Our gazes locked and my heart hammered violently against my ribcage as my breath seemed to catch in my throat, and then there was a honking behind us and James muttered "fuck". He stepped on the accelerator and I leaned back against the seat, trying to remember how to breathe properly again.

_Fuck_ was right. What the hell had just happened there?

At a red light, James reached behind the seat and pulled out his backpack. He rummaged through it until he found his iPod and a connector for the car. "Go ahead and plug this in if you want," he said, passing it to me.

"You don't like the radio?" I asked as I connected the two and scrolled through the MP3 Player.

"No, I do. It's just it gets repetitive after awhile."

"True," I agreed, pausing as I reached the Gs. "Garbage?"

He grinned. "You listen to them?"

"I think Kendall might. I've never heard any of their stuff. Are they good?"

"Very good. Their newer stuff's different, but in a good way."

I shrugged and got into their albums, before playing one of their singles, Automatic Systematic.

Something that reminded me of a mixture of electronic music and rock blasted from the speakers and I smiled a little. There was a pop edge to the song that I liked, but the song was still rock, which I figured was why James listened to it.

"Have you always been into rock?" I asked him over the song.

"Pretty much, yeah. Bands like The Beatles and Rolling Stones and Van Halen and Duran Duran were always playing in the house when I was growing up. My dad would drive me to kindergarten and Iron Butterfly would be blasting out of the car speakers. My mom wasn't too thrilled, and she tried to introduce me to more pop-y stuff, but it didn't take. I used to go through my dad's old LP records and play my favorites over and over while doing my homework. Once I got a CD player my dad got me the CD versions of the albums I'd been listening to. I'd listen to the LA rock stations and see if I could find any new bands, and I did. And once I discovered iTunes, I was gone. It drives my mom crazy, and a lot of people are really surprised when they find out that one of my favorite bands is Halestorm, or that I listen to Mötley Crüe on a regular basis. They always think I'm going to be more into pop and show tunes."

I slowly nodded. In all honesty, I could understand why people would think that. James had almost a surfer look about him, the kind that made you think of pop music blaring from speakers as he ran down the beach with his friends, gazing out at the ocean. But clearly that wasn't an accurate representation of him. It was true – never judge a book by its cover.

"How about you?" he asked me. "Have you always listened to pop?"

"Pretty much," I laughed. "My first CD was a Britney Spears one. I've always leaned more towards the bubblegum pop style for some reason. Kendall teases me because my music taste isn't exactly edgy, but I like it. It's upbeat, and it doesn't make my head hurt."

"But you do listen to rock."

"Yeah. I mean, you listen to some pop, right? So it goes both ways. We probably even have some singers and bands in common. Speaking of bands, does Purple Giraffe have any songs up on iTunes?"

"They have a couple," James nodded. "They also have a Facebook page, which has most of their songs."

"Okay, I'll check them out tonight. Hey, don't you need to get the ticket for the show from Kendall?"

"Nope." He popped the P. "I'm holding onto everyone's tickets until tomorrow night."

"Ah, okay."

Before long we were at the gates to the neighborhood, and I waved at the security guard to let us through. Once the gates had swung open, James pulled through and a couple of minutes later we were parked in front of my house.

I smiled at him as I unbuckled my seatbelt. "So I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, definitely. Just feel free to stop by any time. Since it's Saturday, I don't have class."

"Sounds good." My smile widened and I opened the door, climbing out. "Have a good night."

"Thanks. You too."

I headed towards the front door and unlocked it, before waving at James. I slid in and closed the door, letting out a deep breath and ignoring the disappointment curdling in my stomach when I heard him drive away.

* * *

**So, James and Katie are going to a concert...and they're going to be spending some time with each other. This should be interesting...Anyway, what'd you guys think? What do you think is going to happen? Any thoughts? Opinions? Feelings? I'd love to hear them.**

**Thank you for reading, and please review! :)**

**Happy Valentine's Day!**


	8. Chapter 8 What the Hell

**Disclaimer: I still don't own Big Time Rush, or any of the bands/singers mentioned in this chapter. Also, the title comes from Avril Lavigne's song "What the Hell". On the other hand, I'm pretty sure I own the lyrics towards the beginning of the chapter since I wrote them specifically for this chapter.**

**Dia: Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed it :) Lucy does make an appearance in this chapter, but no Kucy. That being said, Lucy and Kendall might end up in the same scene in a later chapter. Thank you for taking the time to read and review, I really appreciate it :)**

**Taylor Shine: Thank you! And thank you for reading and reviewing! It's always appreciated :)**

**jazzy: You're welcome! And thank you :) And does this count as a fast update? Thank you for taking the time to read and review. I really appreciate it!**

**Thank you for all the reviews, alerts, and favorites! I always get so happy when I read the reviews and see the alerts and favorites, they truly make my day :)**

**A/N: Okay, so this is more of a filler chapter. This is another chapter that I originally planned on combining with another one (chapter nine), but this one got too long and so did chapter nine, so that didn't happen. However, this chapter does have a purpose - it sets things up for the next few chapters, so I hope you guys don't mind too much. :)**

**Another thing I want to bring up is that in most of my stories, I switched POVs on a pretty regular basis, and I haven't been doing that too much in this story. The next couple of chapters at least will stay in Katie's point of view, though it will eventually switch back to James'. When I plan chapters out, I plan them out from the character's perspective, and Katie's point of view just seems like the most interesting to me at this point in time. James is just going to school and he's had a pretty normal life, while Katie hasn't, so a lot of this stuff is either new to her, or it's just different, because it's not part of her day to day routine, so to me that makes it more interesting to write from her POV. I hope that makes sense :) Anyway, I think that's about it!**

**Enjoy the chapter! :)**

* * *

**Chapter Eight – What the Hell**

**Katie's POV**

The next morning found me in the recording studio, in the middle of a writing session with Gustavo and Lucy Stone, who had been asking to pen a song with me. Gustavo wasn't particularly fond of letting his artists have their own artistic freedom, but one of my terms when I had signed the recording contract was that I had to be allowed to write my own songs and choose what kind of music I sang. I had also reminded him that Hawk Records was eager to sign me, and he had quickly agreed to the deal.

He had still been pretty moody and hesitant about it at first, hovering over me to make sure my lyrics didn't completely suck, and ensuring that there was a market for my music style, but eventually he had learned to trust my instincts and just go with it.

"I don't think you should put that in," Lucy said to Gustavo, shaking her head. "You're making her sound like she's fourteen, and that's not what we're after."

One of the things I loved about Lucy was the fact that she always refused to buy into whatever image people were trying to sell. Gustavo and my team – Elaine, Wanda, and Danny – were constantly trying to sell this image that I was still a fifteen year old girl. It was like I was stuck in Never-Never Land, destined to never grow up in the public's eyes.

I understood that my situation was different than Lucy's. I had quite literally grown up in front of half the world. I hadn't even hit my tween years when I had started the show, and then I had gone through puberty right there on TV, forever documented on film. Who the hell wanted that?

I had been labeled America's Sweetheart, and I was now immortalized in that notion. I was allowed to get older, but I wasn't allowed to grow up. I hadn't even gotten to date a guy I had truly liked. I was supposed to stay this pure, innocent, sweet little girl, and I wasn't her. I wasn't the girl the world wanted me to be but I was stuck with that image, and I had no clue how to break free of it while still managing to keep a sense of decency. I wasn't even sure that was possible. I wasn't even sure I could avoid tabloids if I decided to streak my hair with pink or purple. I would probably end up seeing headlines screaming "Katie Knight goes corrupt!" and "Former Child Star Goes Crazy!"

That really didn't leave me a lot of room to move.

Lucy, on the other hand, had busted onto the music scene when she was sixteen, right after her highly publicized breakup with Jared. That had been the only thing real about the whole situation with them and me. She had guest starred on a couple of TV shows and had modeled for a few stores, but she was pretty much known solely for her music. With her jet black hair streaked with red, leather jacket, and combat boots, she was exactly how a lot of people imagined a rocker chick would look. And she made sure she lived up to that image, writing the occasional controversial song and jamming out on her favorite guitar on stage. She could do pretty much anything she wanted to and still get away with it. The complete opposite of me. But she was constantly petitioning to let my songs get bumped up from PG to PG13. Gustavo was adamant about my lyrics remaining PG, but Lucy was constantly reminding him that I was eighteen and old enough to sing about more adult stuff once in awhile.

Gustavo glanced sideways at Lucy. "And what do you suggest I put in instead?" he challenged.

"Maybe instead of saying 'I want to hold your hand' – "

"Which is the name of a Beatles song, and look how successful they were!"

" – say 'I want to push you on my bed'."

I stared at Lucy. "Yeah, I don't know if I can sing that."

"Why not?"

"For one thing, that's a little bit racy for my taste."

"So? Spread your wings, fly away, visit different continents."

"What?"

She let out a huffy breath. "Stretch your limits. Push your boundaries. This album isn't even going to come out until after you turn nineteen."

"Right. Well, I don't exactly have a lot of experience pushing guys down on my bed."

"But isn't there a guy you do want to push down on your bed?"

I ducked my head, blushing slightly. Damn, maybe it wasn't just the media's personification of me. Maybe I really was stuck in Never-Never Land.

Lucy sighed. "Come on, Katie. It's not a crime. Anyway, what about that guy you met at Le Mis, the one who showed up at your last concert? What's his name? James? He's who you're thinking about, right?"

I nodded.

"Is he hot?"

"So hot."

"So, write about that. Write about all the things you want to do to him."

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"Because not even Rihanna would put that stuff in a song!"

Lucy smirked. "That's unfortunate. Are you seeing him again anytime soon?"

"Yeah, tonight actually."

Her eyebrows skyrocketed. "Are you two going out on a date?"

"Not really…A couple of mutual friends are going to be there. Carlos and Logan."

"I know Logan…I don't know Carlos."

"Logan and Kendall both go to school with Carlos, who's James' best friend."

"Damn. That is one small world."

"Tell me about it. Anyway, we're going to the Purple Giraffe show at the LA performing arts college. The one with the long ass name."

"Oh, that one."

"Yeah," I nodded.

"Okay, cool. Anyway, so James is hot and you want to do dirty, dirty things to him. Congratulations, you have the makings of a hit song."

I sighed, pulling the sheet of paper with half scribbled song lyrics towards me so that I could jot a few down. I sang softly as I wrote, trying to figure out the melody for the song. Lucy occasionally made a remark about one of the lyrics, grinning all the while.

Once I had the lyrics for the chorus down, she looked them over before singing,

"_I want you to get out of my head_

_But I still want to push you on my bed_

_I want to drive you crazy for me_

_I want to make you lose your mind_

_Like you've made me do a thousand times_

_I want to kiss you and never let go_

_I want to…I want to make you mine_."

I looked at her. "Is that racy enough for you, or should I add in a couple of 'oooh, baby's?"

Lucy grinned. "Nope, this works. I think it says it all. He's going to lose his mind when he hears the song. Just like he's made you do a thousand times."

I ripped the paper away from her. "Okay, I'm not running song lyrics by you ever again."

"Aww, come on! I like the song. It's risqué without showing everything you've got. Right, Gustavo?" she added pointedly.

He nodded reluctantly. "As much as I hate to say it, it could actually work. Let's keep the chorus. Okay, what should we do for the verses?"

We were halfway through the first one when the studio door opened and a dark haired, dark eyed boy walked in. I immediately tensed, my jaw clenching as my eyes locked with Dak Zevon, my jackass ex, if he could even be called that. He smirked at me and I rolled my eyes.

Lucy immediately grabbed the paper and folded it up, stuffing it in her purse. I discreetly shot her a grateful look. The last thing I needed was Dak making a comment about a new song I wasn't particularly confident about.

Gustavo got to his feet. "What do you need?" he asked Dak as he approached him.

"I just wanted to show you a couple of new songs I wrote last night," he replied, shooting another smirk at me and I gritted my teeth. Liar. He probably knew I was here and thought it'd be a really fun idea to harass me.

"I e-mailed you the songs," Dak continued on. "So if you could print them out, that'd be great."

Gustavo nodded and headed into his office, leaving Lucy and me alone with the jerk.

Lucy and I stood up as well, and I moved around Dak to get to the water cooler. He blocked my path and I bit on my tongue to keep from spitting right in his face.

"Get out of my way, please."

"Am I in your way? I never would have guessed."

I shoved past him, ignoring the mocking expression on his face.

"What are you doing here?" Lucy demanded of Dak. "I mean, besides being an absolute prick."

"What I told Gustavo. Dropping off new songs."

"Sure. And you just happen to do that while Katie's here."

"She's here a lot so it's not like it's completely out of the blue. And if she can't handle seeing me, then that's just too bad. I mean, it's not my fault she hasn't moved on from our breakup."

I snorted. Yeah, some breakup. We weren't even in a real relationship.

"For your information," Lucy said defensively, "Katie has moved on. She's hanging out with another guy tonight. One who's a thousand times hotter than you. So there. Hah!" She snapped her fingers in front of his face before grinning in triumph at me.

Okay, then…

Dak rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Like I care. But Katie, if you ever want to catch up or something, we should definitely grab coffee together."

"Yeah, sure, that's totally going to happen," I said sarcastically. "Because the very sight of you doesn't make me want to vomit."

Before he could say anything in response, Gustavo walked back in with the printed out pages. "Here you go. What happened to your printer?"

"It's broken," Dak gritted out, taking the pages. "Thanks. Bye." He stomped out of the studio, leaving Lucy smirking and me shaking my head in his wake.

"Okay," I said as Lucy and I sat back down again, "I'm going to need your help."

"With what?"

"To figure out what I should wear. James likes rock music and I don't want to look like a preteen pop star."

"You won't."

"I still need your help."

"If he doesn't like you for you, then he's not worth it."

"I'm aware of that. I just, you know, don't want to look really young."

"And once again, you won't. You look like you're eighteen, Katie."

I raised an eyebrow at her.

"Okay, fine. You look like you're sixteen. But that's only because you're so petite! It's really not a big deal."

"Are you going to help me or not?"

"Yeah, I'll help you. Anyway, let's get the rest of this song finished."

A couple of hours later, Lucy and I stood in my bedroom. I was wearing black skinny jeans, a pink single sleeved long sleeved peasant blouse, and black high top Converse sneakers. A guitar necklace hung around my neck, earrings and an ear cuff – to make it look like I had gotten one of my ears pierced twice – dangled from my earlobes, and a black and silver cuff and jelly bracelets draped over my wrists. My hair tumbled down over one shoulder, and she had clipped the other side back.

"There," she grinned. "You look edgy, but cute and adorable at the same time."

I stared at myself. My makeup was a little heavier than usual, although Lucy had managed to keep it classy, and – whoa, that bra did wonders for my chest. I almost felt busty.

"You look hot," Lucy told me. "Seriously, James is going to flip when he sees you."

"You think so?" I self-consciously tugged at my shirt.

"I know so. Have fun tonight. And hey, maybe if you two get some time alone…" she waggled her eyebrows suggestively.

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, I doubt that's going to happen."

"Anyway, what does he even look like? Do you have a picture?" she pressed.

"Um…Hang on." I pulled out my phone, got into my musician/band Facebook page, and then looked James up.

"You really need to get a personal Facebook," Lucy informed me.

"Why? So that half the country can friend me?"

"No. So that you can keep in touch with your friends and family."

"That's what phones are for, believe it or not."

"Uh huh. It'd be more convenient if you had a personal Facebook, though. Then you could keep in touch with everyone at once."

"And how am I supposed to do that without tipping everyone off as to who I am? And you know my management team would probably want to approve everything I post."

"They don't do that with your twitter or celebrity Facebook."

"They'll want to make sure I'm not giving out too much information about work. You know, they like to keep everything under wraps."

"Keep _what_ under wraps?"

"What songs I'm releasing. What movies and TV shows I'm considering doing. That sort of thing."

"Ah. They seem to like keeping _you_ under wraps," she replied.

I shrugged. "Anyway…Here's James." I passed my phone to her.

Her eyes widened. "Holy spicy guacamole! He's fucking hot!"

"I know, right?" I snatched the phone away before she could figure out how to send him a friend request through my public Facebook page. Although she probably already knew, since she had one. "You see why I'm so nervous? Why would a guy who looks like _that_ want to go out with me?"

"Because you're fucking hot as well."

I blushed. "I'm not."

"You are. And you should let James prove it to you."

"Shut up!" I hissed, just as my phone went off. I checked the Caller ID and saw that it was Elaine calling. "Hang on, I've gotta take this." I hit the button to accept the call and put my phone up to my ear. "What's up?"

"I just got the schedule for the press tour for _Haunted University_," Elaine told me in her best business voice. "We're going to start in LA, make a circle around to New York City, loop back to LA for the U.S premiere, and then hit up London for a few days before the UK premiere."

"Okay." I grabbed a notebook and pen lying on my desk and made a quick note of that. "Are we just spending a day in each city?"

"Yeah, except for New York. You guys have a bunch of talk shows and magazine interviews you'll be doing. You'll be there from that Thursday to that Saturday, and then you'll fly back Saturday afternoon for the premiere, which is on Sunday."

"Okay." I jotted that down as well. "Are we sharing hotel rooms?"

"Is that your way of asking if you're going to be stuck with Natalia?"

"Possibly..."

"Don't worry, we're not crazy or suicidal enough to do that. You'll each have your own room for the most part, and when you don't, you'll be rooming with someone else – _not_ each other."

"Good to know."

"Okay, and you're leaving next Saturday for the press tour. You'll have a couple of interviews here in LA on Friday, and then you'll have a couple more when you come back for the movie premiere."

"Okay." That went down in the notebook as well.

"I'll text you with the details in a couple of days."

"Sounds good."

We hung up and I turned back to Lucy. "Anyway, I have to get going. I want to have some time with James before Carlos and Logan show up."

"Yeah, you definitely should," she agreed. "Hang out with him, find out more about him. Figure out if you really like him or not."

"I'll see what I can do."

"Good." She hugged me. "I'm going to head out. Call me up tomorrow and tell me all about it, okay?"

I nodded. "Definitely."

We headed outside together. I locked up as Lucy climbed into her car, before I got into mine. She waved at me before pulling out of the driveway, and I buckled my seatbelt. I had no doubt about it. Tonight was going to be interesting.

I managed to find the Los Angeles College of the Performing Arts relatively easily, since, like I had told James, I had to drive by it on a semi regular basis. I located the visitors' parking lot and parked the car, before climbing out. James had told me where his dorm was set up, and a quick look at the visitors' map placed at the edge of the parking lot confirmed the directions he had given me.

I traipsed the path and before long I had found the Paul McCartney dorm. I pushed inside, smiling a little at the airy lobby. Plants were set up in pots in the corners, and overstuffed couches were spread out across the room, facing a large flat screen TV. There were students sprawled out all over the couches, some watching the reality show that was currently on, while others studied or played games on their phones.

I made my way to the elevator and got in, hitting the button for the third floor. About twenty seconds later the doors slid open to reveal a brightly lit hall lined with doors. I walked down the corridor carefully, keeping an eye out for 315. I found it about halfway down the hall and hesitated slightly, before knocking on the door.

A moment later the door swung open and I found myself looking up at James. He smiled at me, leaning against the doorframe, and I felt my breath catch slightly in my throat. He was in a simple pair of jeans and t-shirt, but he looked amazing. It felt like I hadn't seen him in months, when I had just hung out with him the day before. I couldn't figure out how that could even work, but I wasn't going to question it. I was going to have fun and see what would happen with him tonight.

"Hey," I greeted him, smiling back.

"Hey," he replied, standing back so that I could step inside. "So, this is my humble abode. What do you think?"

I looked around it with a mock-critical eye, hemming and hawing. He had been right, the room wasn't huge, but it was decent sized. There were two twin sized beds, two bedside tables, two desks, and two dressers. At one end of the room there was a closet, and at the other was a window overlooking the courtyard. All in all it was pretty nice.

I nodded my approval. "I like it. It reeks of college sophistication."

James laughed and sat down on one of the twin beds. It would have been obvious even if he hadn't sat down on it that it was his. The bedspread and pillow cases were black with a guitar, piano, and drum pattern sewn into them. A guitar case leaned against the foot of his bed, a couple of guitar picks and strings were scattered across his desk, and his side of the room was papered with posters of bands and singers.

Wait a sec.

I glanced back at the posters hanging over his bed. One of the posters was of a band I knew he had mentioned the day before. Halestorm. There were four guys and one woman posing on the poster, but that wasn't the problem. The woman was gorgeous, no doubt about it, and I could see a copy of Revolver magazine on his desk with the same chick on it. Wow, okay…I wasn't entirely sure how to react to that. She wasn't scantily clad or anything, but still. How the hell was I suppose to react to that?

But before I could think about it too much another poster caught my eye. This one was of none other than Lucy Stone. And then there was another poster of her hanging over his desk.

I knew Carlos had said that James was a fan of her music, but he hadn't said that he was such a big fan that he had her picture hanging on his wall in two different places.

That was one hell of a nasty surprise. And it was a reminder that I wasn't hot or sexy. I was just…me. I was a little girl pretending to be an adult, nothing more.

"You okay?" James asked me, bouncing back to his feet, and I swallowed the flood of burning emotions that had been threatening to drown me.

I nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. You know, I don't know a lot of these bands so maybe you should tell me who they are." I pointed to a couple of posters, purposefully staying away from the Halestorm and Lucy Stone posters.

"Sure," James said brightly, and pointed to one over his nightstand. "That's Thousand Foot Krutch, and that one is Sick Puppies."

"What the hell kind of name is Sick Puppies?" I demanded.

"Their name," he replied cheekily.

"Sounds like a depressing band."

"They're not. They sound a little like Nickelback," he added. "You, uh, listen to Nickelback, right?"

I nodded. "Yeah, some of their songs."

"Okay. That one's Hinder, and that one is Bullet for My Valentine. Over there is Breaking Benjamin, and see that one over the dresser? That's Three Days Grace. And of course there's Avril Lavigne and Simple Plan," he added, laughing.

"And Blink 182 and Good Charlotte," I added, nodding to a couple of other posters he hadn't acknowledged.

"And Avenged Sevenfold and 3 Doors Down. Oh, and there's Halestorm, and there's Sum 41. And Lucy Stone," he said as an afterthought. "And Mötley Crüe and Sixx:A.M. You know, the bass guitarist from Mötley Crüe, Nikki Sixx, formed the band."

"Really?" I raised my eyebrows to show my interest. "But he doesn't sing, right? He's not the front man?"

"No, that's James Michael. He's got a hell of a voice."

"I heard the single he put out," I said. "He's good."

"He is. He did a song with Halestorm as well. You might like it."

"Maybe. I'll check it out when I get the chance. Hey, where's Garbage in all this?"

James laughed and pointed to a spot by the closet. "There they are."

I smiled a little. "I'm amazed you could fit so many posters in such a small space."

He shrugged. "What can I say? It's a talent."

I giggled, relaxing a little now that he hadn't made a huge deal over Halestorm and Lucy Stone. Maybe he really was just into them for their music. That was possible, right? Halestorm was one of his favorite bands, so of course he would track them in magazines and such. No big deal.

"Did you check out Purple Giraffe last night?"

"I actually didn't," I admitted. "I was talking to my mom, and then Camille called so I ended up talking to her as well."

James led me over to his desk and brought Facebook up on his laptop. He searched for the Purple Giraffe page before turning the volume up. A moment later a riff that could only be pop punk was blasting out of the speakers.

We went through a couple of their songs before James logged out of Facebook. "So? Think you can handle them tonight."

I nodded. "Definitely. I like them."

"Good."

The dorm room door opened and we both looked around. A boy around Logan's height walked in. With his jet black hair, pale skin, and black eyeliner he looked exactly like how I had always thought a Goth would look.

James grinned at him. "How was drama club?"

He shrugged. "The same as always."

"Cool. Brendan, this is Katie. Katie, this is my roommate, Brendan."

I smiled at him. "Nice to meet you."

"You too." He narrowed his eyes at me and I fought the urge to hide behind James. "You look really familiar. You don't go here, do you?"

"No, but I live here in LA, so maybe you've seen me at a coffee shop or something?" I suggested helpfully. Thank goodness James had a roommate who didn't listen to my music or watch reruns of _These Days Are Ours_.

James nodded. "I ran into her after I met her at a Starbucks."

"I go there on a regular basis."

"She really does."

Brendan blinked at us. "Okay, yeah, that must be where I've seen you." He walked over to his side of the room, dropping his messenger back on the floor. "So, are you two…ya know…?"

"We're friends," James clarified, raising an eyebrow at him. "And I don't know what 'ya know' means. We're not dating or sleeping together."

Sadly. And dear God, did I just get friend zoned?

"Really?" Brendan didn't look convinced. "Then why are you two standing so close?"

James and I immediately leapt away from each other.

"Oh, I get it. This is one of those things where you two are friends but you secretly want to bang each other's brains out."

That about summed it up.

James rubbed his temples. "I need a private dorm."

"Dude, she's hot. You should do something about that."

James, seriously, listen to your Goth roommate. He knows what he's talking about.

Instead of saying that, I just chirped out, "Thanks," to Brendan.

"Anytime," he replied. "And you really do look familiar. I'm pretty sure I've seen you somewhere besides Starbucks."

"Well, I can't help you there – "

"Holy fuck!" he hollered, jaw dropping. "I just realized where I've seen you! You're Katie Knight!"

James and I were both across the room in about a half second, James slapping his hand over Brendan's mouth and me yanking him down by way of his sweatshirt's collar so that we were eye to eye.

"Don't yell it out," I hissed. "As far as you're concerned, I was never on a TV show and I'm not a singer. Got it?"

He nodded, eyes bugging out.

James and I both stepped back from him.

"What the hell?" he burst out. "Why did you two practically attack me?"

"Because I don't have my bodyguard with me and I know how crazy people can get," I told him. "And I _really_ don't want people recognizing me tonight. I just want to go to a concert with a few friends."

"But you're _Katie Knight_."

"And you're Brendan and apparently you're Goth. What does that have to do with the price of peas in Persia?"

James opened his mouth, probably to tell me that that wasn't the saying, but I held my hand up to stop him. I wanted to hear Brendan's answer.

Brendan shrugged. "You're famous. You're hot. You're a famous pop star and actress."

"So I have a cool job." I shrugged too. "That doesn't mean shit."

"She's normal," James spoke up, moving so that he was standing behind me with his hand on my bare shoulder. I could feel the warmth of his palm against my skin and I fought back the urge to lean against him. "Believe me, I have yet to see her have a diva moment. She went out for pizza with me and a few of our friends yesterday. She's not the girl you see in magazines or on TV. She's just Katie."

Warmth seemed to spread from my shoulder through the rest of my body so I felt all tingly, like someone had pumped my blood full of sparking water. All I could do was turn my head and smile at him gratefully before looking back at Brendan. "I don't get what the big deal is. You clearly don't even listen to my music."

"It's just…I mean…you're a celebrity." He said it like that explained the seven wonders of the world.

I shook my head. "I'm only a celebrity according to magazines and a talk show. I'm eighteen years old, Brendan. I'm a normal teenage girl. I'm nothing special, I promise you."

Brendan didn't look convinced, and James spoke up: "Do me a favor and _don't_ tell the world that Katie's here tonight."

Brendan shrugged. "What would I say? _I walked into my dorm and found Katie Knight standing there_? No one's going to believe me."

Which was really kind of sad. Fame and celebrity status weren't exactly positive things in this case.

"Anyway," he spoke up, grabbing a couple of books off his desk, "I have to get to dance club, so I'll see you later, James. Nice meeting you, Katie." And with that he was gone, leaving James and me alone again.

I turned back to James, though I wasn't exactly sure what I wanted to say. I finally settled on, "Man, people are crazy."

"They definitely can be," he agreed. "Anyway, are you hungry? Do you want to go grab food?"

I nodded. "Maybe you could give me a tour of the campus while we're at it?"

He smiled. "Sounds like a plan."

* * *

**Okay, so, hopefully this chapter wasn't totally boring. The next chapter should be a little more interesting, but like I said, this chapter was necessary. And hey, there was more Jatie, so that's always good, right?**

**Thank you for reading, and please review! Hearing what you guys think and your feelings on different things is always interesting, and some of you have said stuff that I didn't expect and it got me thinking, so thank you for that! :)**


	9. Chapter 9 You Hear a Song

**Disclaimer: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I still don't own Big Time Rush. The chapter title comes from "You Hear a Song" by Cassadee Pope. The songs used in this are "Just the Way You Are" by Bruno Mars, "Save You" by Simple Plan, and "Kiss Me" by Ed Sheeran.**

**What? No un-signed-in reviews?**

**Thank you for the reviews and alerts :) They always make me smile!**

**A/N: I have to admit, I'm kind of excited about this chapter. It's my favorite one so far, and I've been going crazy, waiting to post it. It was a fun chapter to write, and hopefully it'll be a fun one to read. :)**

**I'm not sure when the next update will be, because I only have half of chapter ten finished. Hopefully it'll be next week, but it's hard to tell, so we'll see. In any case, here's chapter nine :)**

**Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

**Chapter Nine – You Hear a Song**

**Katie's POV**

The elevator ride down to the lobby was quiet, with James and me standing side by side and not saying anything.

Yeah, okay. This wasn't awkward at all.

We got out once the elevator had reached the lobby and walked back out into the late September sunshine.

"So," James said as we made our way across the courtyard. "What are you in the mood for?"

A little less awkwardness. Seriously, why was this so awkward? We had been alone before. Granted, it had never been right after his psycho roommate accused us of wanting to sleep together…

"Ummm…" I licked my lips, thinking about all the college food that was now at my disposal. "How about Mexican? I could go for a huge plate of nachos."

He chuckled. "Mexican works. We have a really awesome Mexican place just across the way." He nodded towards the other end of the courtyard. "And their nachos are incredible."

"Cool," I smiled. "So, what do you do in your free time?"

"Eat," he grinned. "Workout."

Oh, I bet…I fought back the urge to gulp as I eyed his biceps. They were bigger than my head.

"Watch TV," he continued on. "Read. Hang out with friends. Go see movies. Play guitar. Surf."

"You surf?"

"When I can, yeah."

"How long have you been surfing for?"

"Since I was thirteen," he replied. "Carlos wanted to learn how to surf to impress girls, but his parents didn't want him taking lessons alone, especially since he's accident prone."

I grinned a little, thinking about some of the stories Kendall had told me about Carlos.

"So I ended up tagging along to the lessons with him, and it turned out I was actually kind of good at it. Carlos is better at it," he added. "He may be a bit clumsy, but he's actually really athletic. He's entered a few amateur competitions, and at one point his instructor wanted him to go pro, but he's happy where he is."

"What's he majoring in at UCLA?" I asked curiously.

"Film," he replied. "He wants to be a director. I like being in front of the camera – he likes being behind it."

"That's pretty cool. I bet he's going to be good at that."

"He will be," James said confidently. "When we were in high school he always had his camera out or his phone on record, and he'd make me and Victoria – my ex girlfriend – act out scenes and stuff. And then he'd post the videos on YouTube and Facebook. Everyone was always gushing about how good they were, how they were so beautifully filmed, and it's true. Carlos has a knack for that."

I smiled as he talked about high school, ignoring the part about Victoria. "It sounds like you guys had a lot of fun."

"We did." The courtyard forked off in several different paths, and James led me down the straight one. "What about you? What was high school like? Or – wait – " a sheepish look crossed his face. "I just remembered you were on a TV show for most of high school, and then you were recording."

I giggled. "It's fine. And I had a tutor on set, and then at the studio. It was more fun on set because there were always a few other kids so we'd usually just end up hanging out in one of our dressing rooms and we'd do our work that way. When I was at the studio it was usually just me and my tutor and Gustavo, breathing down our necks to get it done."

"Gustavo?"

"Gustavo Rocque. My producer."

"Oh, right, I know who he is. He's the one who produced all those boy bands from the '90s, right? He had that hit song, _Girl to My Heart_."

"Look who knows their pop music trivia," I teased.

"My mom was obsessed with that song when I was growing up," he shrugged. "Give me a break. Oh, here we are," he added as we reached what appeared to be a café. He held the door open for me and I flashed him a smile as I stepped inside. He followed, and we headed up to the counter, peering up at the menu.

Ten minutes later we were sitting at a table, sharing an extra large platter of nachos topped with just about everything under the sun. I swiped a chip through the guacamole and sour cream before popping it into my mouth. "So, Elaine, my manager, called me this afternoon."

James looked at me as he swallowed his bite of nachos. "Is that unusual…?"

"No. It's just she was letting me know about the press tour for _Haunted University_."

"Did you get details about it?"

I nodded. "It's kicking off next weekend, and it's going to go for a month."

His brow furrowed slightly, but other than that there was barely a reaction from him. "Oh. Wow."

"Yeah. We're starting in LA, and then we're going to make a loop around the U.S. We'll be spending a few days in New York City, before heading back to LA for the U.S premiere, and then we'll be flying to London for that premiere."

"Wow," James munched on another nacho. "New York City and London. Sounds like a hard life." He grinned at me good-naturedly.

"Yeah, so hard," I chuckled. "Well, it might suck because Natalia Walker will be there, but we aren't sharing a hotel room, so hopefully it won't be too bad."

"If she starts acting like a bitch, just tell her to fuck off," he advised. "And if she threatens to go to the media with that, just tell her you'll rat her out as well."

I pointed at him. "I like your thinking. I might just have to do that."

He grinned. "Glad to hear it. So, what's the press tour going to entail?"

"Lots of talk shows, lots of magazine interviews, that kind of thing."

"Sounds exhausting."

"It will be," I said dryly. "But it's only for a month. It ends a week or so before Halloween."

"Are you going to be in the states for Halloween?"

"I am, as a matter of fact."

"Got any plans?"

I popped another chip in my mouth. "Not at the moment, though I think one of my friends might be throwing a Halloween party. How about you?"

"I might be hitting up one of the haunted mazes," James shrugged.

I chewed on a nacho thoughtfully before swallowing. "You know, if you're interested you could always come to the party with me…"

He raised an eyebrow. "You're inviting me to a Hollywood party?"

I nodded. "It would just be a costume party, nothing too glamorous, but it would probably be a lot of fun."

"Get back to me if the party actually happens," he told me.

"Will do."

We finished up our food, downed our drinks, and headed off.

"Have you lived in LA your whole life?" I asked James curiously as we walked down a pathway.

He stuffed his hands in his jeans pockets. "We moved to LA when I was twelve. We're from Minnesota, actually," he added and I looked up at him. "Shakopee."

I nodded. "I'm from Sherwood."

"Ah, okay. I think I knew that," he said. "Shelby probably told me at some point."

I laughed. "She's enthusiastic, huh?"

"Very enthusiastic. She's passionate about what she loves."

"Seems like she gets that from her big brother," I commented, playfully bumping my shoulder against his. "You seem like someone who gets pretty passionate about stuff you love."

"I definitely can," he admitted. "I can have a one track mind and I won't surface until I finish whatever it is that I set out to do."

I smiled. "That's not necessarily a bad thing. It can probably be a huge help."

"It can be, though it sometimes means that I put aside more important stuff. I risked my finals because I was so hell bent on doing Le Mis."

"But you got through them, didn't you?"

"I did."

"Then it wasn't a total disaster." I glanced at the building on our right and spotted the sign sitting just outside the entrance. "The music building? You have a class in here, right?"

"I do."

"Come on. Give me a tour," I said, taking his hand and leading him into the building.

"Fine, fine," he let out a mock-groan. "But just so you know, I try to avoid classrooms during the weekend."

I pouted at him. "You promised me a tour."

"And a music classroom is interesting to you?"

I shrugged. "I've only seen the one at my elementary school."

"I'm pretty sure it's the same principle. Here we are." He pushed open the classroom door and I stepped inside.

I immediately spotted rows of chairs lined up neatly across the room, and out of the corner of my eye I caught sight of a small, carpeted stage with a piano sitting in the center. The ceiling was domed and the windows were high, giving it an almost cathedral-like feel.

I looked at the piano. "Do you play?"

"The piano? Yeah. I took lessons until I was ten. We had a piano at our old house, and I was always messing around on it. My mom decided I needed lessons after I played _Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star_ without any help."

"Damn. You're a music prodigy, huh?"

He shrugged. "Not exactly. But I do enjoy playing."

"You should play something for me. And maybe sing too. I've been dying to hear you sing again."

He blinked. "Right now?"

"Yeah."

He sighed. "Fine. But if it sucks, I'm blaming you."

"It won't suck." I plopped down in a chair in the front row while James positioned himself at the piano. I watched as he played a few scales to warm himself up, before switching to a melody.

"'_Oh, her eyes, her eyes make the stars look like they're not shining  
Her hair, her hair falls perfectly without her tryin'  
She's so beautiful  
And I tell her everyday_

_Yeah, I know, I know when I compliment her, she won't believe me  
And it's so, it's so sad to think that she don't see what I see  
But every time she asks me do I look okay?  
I say_

_When I see your face  
There's not a thing that I would change  
'Cause you're amazing  
Just the way you are_

_And when you smile  
The whole world stops and stares for a while  
'Cause girl, you're amazing  
Just the way you are…_'"

My first thought was, _oh my gosh, Mr. Rock Star listens to Bruno Mars! _My second thought was, _oh my gosh, he's playing this song for me! Does this mean he likes me? What does it meeeaaannn?_ My third thought was, _I'll figure that out later, right now I need to look like I'm actually paying attention – fuck, he's so hot and he's so into it and oh man…_

Needless to say, I was all over the place.

"'_Her lips, her lips, I could kiss them all day if she'd let me  
Her laugh her laugh, she hates but I think it's so sexy  
She's so beautiful  
And I tell her everyday_

_Oh, you know, you know I'd never ask you to change  
If perfect's what you're searching for, then just stay the same  
So don't even bother asking if you look okay  
You know I'll say_

_When I see your face  
There's not a thing that I would change  
'Cause you're amazing  
Just the way you are_

_And when you smile  
The whole world stops and stares for a while  
'Cause girl, you're amazing  
Just the way you are_

_The way you are  
The way you are  
Girl, you're amazing  
Just the way you are_

_When I see your face  
There's not a thing that I would change  
'Cause you're amazing  
Just the way you are_

_And when you smile  
The whole world stops and stares for a while  
'Cause girl, you're amazing  
Just the way you are…_'" He finished, playing the last note and holding it for just a few seconds.

I swallowed hard. His voice was every bit as good as I had remembered it, but it was different, lighter, more airy, now that he was singing a pop song. It was beautiful. I could listen to him sing all day it was so good.

"Well?" he asked me, looking a little nervous. "How was that?"

I smiled at him. "It was beautiful. Amazing. You know, you could totally get a recording contract. I could get you one."

He looked at me, the expression on his face almost uneasy. "Seriously, you don't have to. I like doing musicals. I don't need to get a recording contract. And if I do," he added, voice taking on a firm tone, "I'd like to earn it, not have it offered to me on a silver platter because one of my friends is Katie Knight."

I nodded. "I can respect that. I understand that. It's just…you're so good. I hope you do get a contract one day."

He smiled a little. "We'll see."

It was kind of funny in a way. Most of the people I had met since I was nine or ten had been really into the idea of using me to achieve fame and wealth. Even my brother had used me so that he could date Jo Taylor. But so far James hadn't asked for a single thing, and it kind of made a nice change. And maybe that was why I was so comfortable with him, because he was genuine.

We spent the next couple of hours walking around campus, James pointing out the different buildings. He showed me the theater, where he took a drama class, and the dance studio, where his dance class was held. Occasionally people would call "hi" to him and peer at me curiously, and when they did stop to chat he always made sure to introduce me to them, though he never mentioned my last name. A few people commented that they felt like they had seen me somewhere before, but by that time James and I had agreed to just say that that was probably because I hung out with him so that might be why.

Carlos and Logan were due to arrive at James' dorm at six-thirty, so at six we headed back to the residence hall and up to his room. It was empty, so we plopped down on his bed, spreading out as best we could. I could see a guitar case peeking out from under the bed frame, and I frowned. "Is that your acoustic guitar?" I asked, nodding towards the case.

"Yeah," he confirmed. "I try to keep it out of the way so that no one steps in it. The poor thing's been so beaten up since I first got it."

I chuckled. "You should play it for me."

He whined. "But I already played the piano for you."

"Yes, but they're not the same instrument. Come on," I wheedled. "I did an entire concert for you. You could at least do one or two songs on the guitar."

"You're bossy, you know that?"

I grinned. "Why, thank you very much. You should say more good stuff about me."

He smirked. "You're demanding, you're snarky, and you have an unhealthy obsession with guacamole."

My jaw dropped. "I do not! Guacamole is amazing! Take that back!"

He held up his hands. "Nah uh! Never!"

"Take. That. Back!" I pushed myself to my knees and he smirked at me.

"Make me."

I launched myself at him, pushing him down on his back against the pillows and holding him there. He squirmed under me and I straddled him, my knees digging into his hips as I tried to pin his arms over his head but he was too tall. Damn it.

"I'm going to add that to your Wikipedia page," he taunted. "That you and guacamole are having a love affair."

I slid further up his body, yanking his hands up over his head. "Do you have any handcuffs in here?"

He busted out laughing. "What the fuck? Why would I have handcuffs in my dorm room?"

"Beats the hell out of me. I don't know what kind of kinky things you're into."

"I know what kind of kinky things you're into. Guacamole."

I slapped my hand over his mouth. "I'm not letting you up until you apologize."

He raised his eyebrows at me and his eyes glittered in amusement.

"What?"

In response, he licked my hand and I squealed. The next thing I knew, he had thrown me off balance and I was on my back with James hovering over me, _my_ arms over my head now.

I blinked up at him. "Heeey, you…"

He grinned. "Still think I should apologize?"

"Yes."

He reached down, sliding his fingers under my shirt so that they were against my bare skin, pressing into my sides. "You sure?"

"I swear, if you tickle me, I'll – "

"You'll – ?"

"Do something really drastic," I finished lamely. My brain was clouded, too busy screaming, _His hand is under your shirt! He's touching your bare skin! Too. Much. Stimulation!_ It really wasn't paying attention to the fact that I needed a snarky, witty comment at that moment. It was failing me. Completely, utterly failing me.

"Do something drastic," he repeated, humming thoughtfully as his thumbs rubbed soft circles into the side of my rib cage.

"Yes," I said with as much dignity as I could muster when I was currently behind held down by a six foot something college boy who was overpowering every single sense I possessed. "I'll do something drastic. And it'll be unexpected. You won't even see it coming!" Since my hands were free, I made a kung-fu chop motion with my hands.

Wait. My hands were free. I could use that to my advantage. Somehow. Assuming I wanted to use it to my advantage. I kind of liked where I was.

Something told me I would make a really bad feminist.

"I won't, huh?" He grinned widely, looking like he was enjoying himself.

"Mmm hmm. You'll be completely blindsided."

His right thumb dipped up just under my bra's band and I bit my lip. He was driving me crazy. I was going to end up on the train headed for Loony Ville and I would never look back, all thanks to James and his damn hands. Oh, and his guacamole comment, which he was still totally in trouble for, as soon as I managed to cool the heat spreading through my body. I was sure it wouldn't last forever. Probably.

James smirked, thumb sliding up another centimeter or so. If he went up much farther he was going to be getting a spontaneous introduction to my chest. While my brain had switched to yelling at me to stop him already, my body was fighting back the urge to arch into him and _make_ him get acquainted with the girls.

"I can't wait to see how you're going to blindside me," he murmured, and that was _it_. A girl couldn't wait forever. And besides, where was the fun if I didn't turn it back on him?

I smirked back, reaching up and trailing my finger up and down his chest, between his pecs and over his abs. His breath hitched, his stomach muscles contracting under my touch, and I fought back the urge to puff my chest out proudly. "How do you know I'm not planning it right now?" I challenged, hooking my finger in the V of his collar before pulling it out and moving back down his torso.

"I don't," he replied. "I'm just going to have to assume that you're not going to blindside me for a little while. And just what exactly are you going to do?" he added.

"Can't tell you," I purred, tracing the waistband of his jeans. "Otherwise it wouldn't be a surprise. And don't you like surprises?"

"Sometimes. You're a constant surprise."

My lips hitched up in another smirk. "You are too. You should surprise me right now."

"Oh?" he quirked an eyebrow. "How so?"

I opened my mouth to say "kiss me", but before I could get those two damn syllables out, an old 3 Doors Down song blasted out from James' jeans pocket and I fought back a groan. You had to be kidding me.

James yelped, rolling off of me as he struggled to pull his phone out, and I scowled at the wall. I knew I should have just yanked him down and kissed him. I _knew_ it. And now I was kiss-less, hot, and annoyed as hell. Whoever had called him had better have a damn emergency, because otherwise –

"Sorry," James said as he ended the call. "That was Carlos. He and Logan are on their way."

"Oh, okay." I forced myself up into a sitting position, ignoring the way my sides still tingled from where he had touched me, ignoring the phantom heat burning into my skin, ignoring the fact that I could still feel his own skin under my fingertips. Fucking hell. I was a mess.

As a way to distract myself, I nudged James. "So, you going to play the guitar for me or what?"

"Yeah," he said, sounding like he had just run a 5K in the space of about three minutes. "Yeah, of course."

Which proved that I wasn't the only one affected by our little episode. He was no longer fighting me on playing the guitar.

He slid down so that he was kneeling on the floor, and he pulled the guitar case out. I watched as he unbuckled the case, lifting the lid to reveal the guitar. I didn't know a ton about guitars, but I knew that this was a nice one, and that despite what he had said earlier about it taking a bunch of abuse, it was well-cared for and loved.

"This is Sandy," he told me as he cradled the guitar in his arms, and I blinked.

"Sandy? You named your guitar?"

"Yes. Don't laugh," he added.

"I'm not going to," I promised him. "Why Sandy?"

"Because she's sand colored. See?" he gestured to the guitar's body. Sure enough, it was the pale golden color of sand, while the neck was a rich brown. The dots along the frets were coral blue, and I knew immediately why he had chosen that guitar. It reminded him of the ocean.

I nodded. "She's gorgeous."

He beamed in pride, and I fought back the urge to laugh. He was so adorable.

I watched as he caressed the guitar's curves as he sat back down on the bed, pick in hand. There was no doubt about it, she was his pride and joy as much as a guitar could be. And now I was thinking about her in gender terms. James was rubbing off on me, at least mentally. If his phone rang he might have been rubbing off on me physically, but that ship had already sailed.

"What do you want me to play?" James asked as he draped his arm over the guitar's body.

"Anything you want. Something that has personal meaning to you," I suggested. I knew from experience that those were always the most intense and most incredible songs to perform, when you felt like you were re-living an experience.

He nodded and began to play. "_'Take a breath, I pull myself together  
Just another step until I reach the door  
You'll never know the way it tears me up inside to see you  
I wish that I could tell you something to take it all away_

_Sometimes I wish I could save you  
And there's so many things that I want you to know  
I won't give up till it's over  
If it takes you forever I want you to know_

_When I hear your voice it's drowning into whispers  
You're just skin and bones, there's nothing left to take  
And no matter what I do I can't make you feel better  
If I only I could find the answer to help me understand_

_Sometimes I wish I could save you  
And there's so many things that I want you to know  
I won't give up till it's over  
If it takes you forever I want you to know_

_That if you fall, stumble down I'll pick you up off the ground  
If you lose faith in you I'll give you strength to pull through  
Tell me you won't give up 'cause I'll be waiting  
If you fall you know I'll be there for you_

_If only I could find the answer to take it all away_

_Sometimes I wish I could save you  
And there's so many things that I want you to know  
I won't give up till it's over  
If it takes you forever I want you to know_

_I wish I could save you, I want you to know  
I wish I could save you…_'" he trailed off, hand falling to his side once he had strummed the last note.

I blinked, not entirely sure what to say. That was an _extremely_ emotional song. What the hell did you say to something like that?

I finally settled on, "What's that about?"

"My dad," he said shortly, before starting to play another song. "'_Settle down with me  
Cover me up  
Cuddle me in_

_Lie down with me  
And hold me in your arms_

_And your heart's against my chest, your lips pressed to my neck  
I'm falling for your eyes, but they don't know me yet  
And with a feeling I'll forget, I'm in love now_

_Kiss me like you wanna be loved  
You wanna be loved  
You wanna be loved  
This feels like falling in love  
Falling in love  
We're falling in love_

_Settle down with me  
And I'll be your safety  
You'll be my lady_

_I was made to keep your body warm  
But I'm cold as the wind blows so hold me in your arms_

_Oh no  
My heart's against your chest, your lips pressed to my neck  
I'm falling for your eyes, but they don't know me yet  
And with this feeling I'll forget, I'm in love now_

_Kiss me like you wanna be loved  
You wanna be loved  
You wanna be loved  
This feels like falling in love  
Falling in love  
We're falling in love_

_Yeah, I've been feeling everything from hate to love from love to lust  
From lust to truth I guess that's how I know you  
So I hold you close to help you give it up_

_So kiss me like you wanna be loved  
You wanna be loved  
You wanna be loved  
This feels like falling in love  
Falling in love  
We're falling in love_

_Kiss me like you wanna be loved  
You wanna be loved  
You wanna be loved  
This feels like falling in love  
Falling in love  
We're falling in love_…'"

I listened to him, my breath catching in my throat as he played the guitar and sang the lyrics, his voice soulful and melodic.

He set the guitar down on the floor, slipping the pick between the strings, and he turned to face me. I looked back at him, trying to find my voice, trying to figure out what I wanted to say to that. Once again I had no idea how to respond, but this time instead of feeling confused and worried, my stomach was churning in anticipation and my heart was beating rapidly. If he put his hand to my chest, he would be able to feel how fast it was thumping, like a drum during a parade march.

Barely thinking, I scooted closer to him, and he reached over, cupping my face in his hands. I leaned into him, feeling his hand slide down to my neck so that he could angle my face towards his. He was leaning in, lips centimeters from mine and I closed my eyes, almost tasting his mouth –

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Someone was going to pay for that.

James and I jerked apart at the sound of someone pounding on the door.

"James, it's us! Let us in!" Carlos hollered.

Un-fucking-believable. I was going to strangle Carlos and Logan before the night was over, I just knew it. Bloody hell.

James straightened up, running his fingers through his hair. Fingers that, just ten minutes ago, had been under my shirt, so close to crossing the line that Carlos and Logan kept freaking blocking.

Cock blocks.

Hmmph.

"Come in!" James called, not quite able to mask the hint of annoyance that his voice betrayed. At least I wasn't the only one who was frustrated by this.

The door swung open and Carlos and Logan trooped inside, Logan surveying us critically before looking at us apologetically. He must have picked up on the fact that he and Carlos must have interrupted something, and I gave him a tight lipped smile. Carlos, on the other hand, just beamed at us brightly, completely unaware that he and Logan had just interrupted – for the second time in the space of about fifteen minutes – what would have been James' and my first kiss.

"Ready to go?" Carlos said cheerfully.

"Yeah." I got to my feet and James followed suit.

"Let's do this thing!"

* * *

**Okay, so...how many of you want to kill me? Probably a lot...Sorry? I know how much you guys want James and Katie to kiss, and I'm dying to write it, but I'm trying really hard to stick with the story's plan. Also, I'm trying to make sure that they don't just jump into a relationship. I know this is the ninth chapter, but they haven't spent a lot of time together yet. I know that there are people who jump into a relationship right away, but not these two. So I'm sorry, but I hope you guys will continue reading this story!**

**Thank you for reading! Please review :)**


	10. Chapter 10 I'm What You've Always Wanted

**Disclaimer: I still don't own Big Time Rush. The title of this chapter comes from SR-71's song "They All Fall Down". Anything else recognizable doesn't belong to me, either. It sucks, I know.**

**Still no un-signed-in reviews...I'm not sure how I feel about that.**

**Thank you for the reviews and alerts! Knowing that people are enjoying this story makes me want to work on this story even more :) You guys are the best!**

**A/N: Okay, my mind is scattered right now. Partly because of James', Carlos', and Alexa's tweets today, and partly because Jatieluv kept sending me stuff about James and Ciara. Anyway, this chapter ended up longer than I originally planned, but hopefully it turned out well :) And I think that's about all I have to say for the A/N, which is probably a first.**

**Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

**Chapter Ten – I'm What You've Always Wanted**

**Katie's POV**

We made the trip back down to the lobby and out the door.

"So, can we get food?" Carlos wanted to know as we once again made our way across the courtyard. His stomach rumbled and he clutched it. "I'm starving."

"You're always starving," Logan rolled his eyes.

"That's because you never feed me."

Despite the fact that they were both a couple of cock blocks, I giggled. "Come on, Carlos," I said, wrapping my arm around him. "Let's go get you some food."

"Where to?" James asked him.

"A place that sells corndogs."

"_Tornado's_ it is."

_Tornado's_ turned out to be a burger joint with the best deep fried curly fries and mozzarella sticks I had ever tasted. Carlos chowed down on a plate full of corndogs while Logan ate a salad and a grilled chicken sandwich. James and I both ended up eating cheeseburgers with large helpings of the aforementioned fries and mozzarella sticks. My nutritionist was going to be so pissed when she saw my logs for this weekend. But whatever. I hadn't had real junk food in ages, and I deserved to pig out with my friends once in awhile.

I sipped on my chocolate milkshake in-between bites, laughing whenever one of the guys would make an off-hand comment about a random topic. Once we were finished, we threw our trash away and headed off, walking towards the Frank Sinatra building, where the concert was being held. As we walked, James told me that it was sort of an all-purpose type of building, with the admissions office on the second floor, and a huge dining room on the first, where special events – such as a concert – were usually held.

College kids and locals were lining up outside the building with their tickets, waiting eagerly for the doors to open. James passed Logan, Carlos, and me our tickets and we took our places at the end of the line.

"This is going to be so awesome!" Carlos cried, stamping his feet in excitement. "I wish they'd hurry up and let us in."

"Relax," Logan chuckled. "The concert doesn't even start until eight, so they probably won't open the doors for another half hour or so."

"But that's forever," he whined.

"Maybe you should tape us," James suggested, grinning. "And title the video _Waiting in Line for a Concert_."

"Maybe I will, smartass."

"If you film me standing in line for a concert, you won't live to see the footage," Logan warned Carlos.

"Aww, what's the matter, Logie? Going camera-shy on me?" Carlos teased.

"Nah, he just wants preferential star treatment," James cracked, and Logan flipped him off, before reaching up to ruffle James' hair. James ducked out from under his hand, cackling. "You've gotta be this tall to touch the hair, Logie-Bear." He held his hand up several inches above Logan's head, and Logan glared at him.

I laughed, grinning at the affronted look on Logan's face and the smirks on James' and Carlos'.

"James?" A female voice called, and we all turned around to see a beautiful girl with wild auburn hair walking towards us. She was tall and slender and dressed in skinny jeans, what looked like a green tube top, and a black blazer.

Carlos' jaw locked and Logan looked away, while James reluctantly accepted the hug that the girl was determined to give him.

"Katie," James said, pulling back quickly. "This is Victoria Steinwood."

"I'm a friend of his from high school," Victoria added. "And you're…Katie Knight."

"The one and only," I chirped, mentally grinding my teeth. So, she was James' ex-girlfriend, huh? And she was tall and gorgeous…it just figured. I was practically a midget compared to her, and it was driving me nuts that I had to tilt my head to look up at her because she was wearing open toed boots with three inch heels.

"I didn't realize you two were friends," she said. "I mean, he told me he was going to your concert, but he didn't seem thrilled about it."

"Is there something you want, Tori?" James spoke up. "Because we're kind of in the middle of a line, waiting to get into a concert."

"I want to talk to you," she said. "Alone."

"Hey, you're not even going to say _hi_ to me?" Carlos demanded. "It's been months since I've last seen you. Don't you want to talk to me alone?"

Victoria gave a tinkling laugh as she tossed her hair over her shoulder and hugged Carlos. She towered over him, but Carlos wasn't backing down. "I don't need to talk to you alone," she replied. "But I do need to talk to James."

James let out a huffy breath. "Fine." He followed Victoria away from the line, towards a nearby coffee shop.

I gritted my teeth. Bitch.

"I wouldn't worry about her too much," Carlos said to me. "She and James have been over for ages."

"Yeah, but she might want him back," I pointed out.

"Doesn't mean he'll go back. I mean, their breakup might not have been messy, but the end of their relationship was."

"What happened?" I asked curiously.

He sighed. "She pulled a bunch of shit right before they broke up."

"Like what? Wait, sorry, I shouldn't be asking this. It's none of my business."

"You and James like each other, right?"

I paused.

He raised an eyebrow. "Let me rephrase that. You like James, right? Because I'm pretty sure James likes you."

"How can you tell?"

"Inviting you to a Purple Giraffe concert, asking you to come by early so that you guys can hang out, the way he teases you, the way he looks at you…he may not want to admit it, but he's smitten."

Logan nodded. "I've only met James a few times, and even I can tell that he's really into you. And I've known you for awhile, and I know you're into him right back."

I sighed. "Yeah, but now his gorgeous ex girlfriend probably wants him back – "

"And I told you, he won't get back together with her," Carlos said firmly. "Look, I knew her in high school."

"James told me. He made it sound like you three were best friends."

He smiled. "We were. We met in middle school. I loved directing. They loved acting. It was a natural fit. But Tori has always liked drama. And I don't mean the class," he added. "She would start shit with other girls in high school just so that she could have something to bitch about. I'm not saying she's a bad person, just that she likes feeling sorry for herself. James is very anti-drama, which I think has to do with his dad."

"What about his dad?"

"You – oh. You don't know."

I shook my head. "Know what?"

"James is going to have to tell you. But…um…anyway. Yeah. James loves performing, but he's not into real conflict. When things are good, he's grateful."

"Like most people."

"It annoyed Tori, though. She didn't think he was jealous or possessive enough. She couldn't understand why he didn't get mad when another guy would hit on her. It wasn't that he wasn't mad, it was that he trusted her to rebuff the guy. There were a couple of times in high school when she would flirt with a guy right in front of James. That did piss him off, and then they wouldn't speak for a few days. I remember Tori showing up at my house and being all 'I was just flirting! I didn't do anything wrong!' And I was all 'boo hoo, you brought this on yourself by flirting with a guy right in front of your boyfriend. It's your own fucking fault'."

I blinked. From what I had seen, Carlos was pretty mild-mannered and chill, not someone who got super pissed at his friends. But I could definitely see where he was coming from.

"Okay, so they broke up in high school?" I asked.

"No. They didn't break up until last June."

"They – holy crap. How long did they date?"

"From their senior year. They would have gotten together sooner, but Tori likes playing games. She always has. She said she was playing hard to get." He rolled his eyes. "It was bullshit. She just wanted to make James work for it, which would have been okay if James hadn't been one of her best friends, and wasn't outwardly crushing on her. She did a bunch of underhanded stuff that I personally would have loved to slap her for."

"Yet you're friends with her."

"I stayed friends with her because of James. I haven't talked to her since they broke up."

"Oh. Wow."

"Yeah. So, okay, she pulled a lot of shit. Just when it looked like she and James were going to get together, she would go and flirt with someone else. One time she made out with a guy at a party after James had tried to get close to her. I don't know why he put up with her, except that he was seventeen and really liked her and he was stupid. He thought she would change, I guess."

"Girls like her don't change," I snorted. "If she's still playing games, then that's not going to happen."

"I know. So, okay, they get together, they end up going to school together, everything's cool. She even started cooling down on the mind games once they hit college, and she became easier to stand. And then last spring happened. She decided she didn't like how much time James was spending rehearsing for Le Mis and studying for finals. He had these two very important things in his life, and she was being a selfish bitch about it." Carlos' fists clenched. "Instead of being proud of him, she started whining to me about it. And, because she's an attention-seeker, which is probably why she likes acting so much anyway, she got drunk at a party, fooled around with some guy, took pictures, and _accidentally_ sent them to James."

My jaw dropped. "You have to be kidding me."

"Nope. She says they just fooled around, no sex, but…" He snorted skeptically.

"You don't believe that."

"Not at all. I think she figured that James would stick with her as long as she didn't sleep with anyone else. But James reached his breaking point. I mean, she had started flirting with other guys in front of him again over the past couple of months, going out of her way to make him jealous and piss him off, and he finally just said _enough_. He talked to her and told her that he wasn't able to deal with this anymore, that she clearly needed someone who wasn't him, and that he wasn't going to hold her back from that. She, in turn, agreed, and that was that. But now…" he narrowed his eyes towards where James and Victoria were still talking. "It's so _convenient_ that just when it looks like he's moving on, she shows back up and decides that she wants to talk to him in private."

"How would she even know about me?" I asked curiously.

"She and James have a lot of mutual friends. If someone saw you two together – "

"People did. We talked to a bunch of people," I added.

"There you go. Someone told her, and she decided to see if they were right. Well, they are, and while she can make out with other people while she and James are together, he's not allowed to date someone else after they're broken up."

"Don't you think that might be a little exaggerated?" Logan asked Carlos.

He shrugged. "Maybe. Probably. But she's playing her fucking games again! And while I really don't think he'll go back to her, you never know…"

"Then let's go drag him away from her."

I tossed my hair over my shoulder in an imitation of Victoria. "I'll do it," I volunteered. "I might as well stake my claim while I'm at it."

Carlos grinned. "Yeah, I like you. You don't seem like a game player, and you and James seem to get along really well."

I shrugged, flashed him a charming smile, and stalked off to kick some ex-girlfriend-bitch ass.

I walked over to James and Victoria, and placed my hand on James' arm. "We were starting to get worried about you, you've been gone for so long," I said to him, before looking at Victoria. "Sorry for interrupting your private chat, but we were starting to think you'd kidnapped him."

"Nope, I haven't been kidnapped," James laughed. "And our conversation's just about over anyway. I'll see you later, Tori," he added to her, before walking with me back to our place in line.

"So, what did Tori want?" Carlos asked mildly when we joined him and Logan once again.

James shrugged. "Nothing that I agreed to."

"Dude, she wanted to get back together, didn't she?"

James shot him a look. "Would it be possible to talk about this elsewhere?"

"Just answer the damn question."

"I'm going to go find a restroom," I said abruptly, hurrying off back towards the coffee shop. I heard Logan make the same excuse, and he caught up with me a moment later.

"Well, this is fun," he said, voice low.

"Yeah, definitely," I replied sarcastically. "I really hope this isn't an omen for the rest of the night."

"I'm sure it's not," Logan told me sympathetically. "Don't worry about it too much."

We headed into the coffee shop, making a beeline for the bathrooms.

Five minutes later, we were slipping into line again. James and Carlos were quiet and neither Logan nor I questioned them about their conversation, assuming they had even talked about what Victoria wanted from James. Like any of us had our doubts.

I positioned myself beside James and he looked at me, smiling. "So, do you go to a lot of concerts? Besides your own, I mean."

"I do. I catch as many as I can, actually. Maybe I'm addicted to them, I don't know. But there is just nothing like the energy of a concert, or the way the music rips through you, you know?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I do. Maybe that's why I like performing in musicals so much, because there's just this energy that comes with live music. I mean, with Le Mis we had a live orchestra, and that was pretty incredible. And having an audience, being able to feel their energy…" James shook his head in awe. "There's nothing like it."

"There isn't," I agreed.

The line began moving soon after, and before long we as passing our tickets to the guy standing at the door and walked into the lobby, towards what usually doubled as the dining hall. We were quickly swept up with the excited crowd, and James looped his arm around my waist to make sure we didn't get separated. I had no complaints whatsoever.

A drink stand had been set up in the lobby, and there was even a table where some kids were selling popcorn and last minute tickets.

We walked into the dining hall, and I had a feeling that there was no way in hell they had their open houses here when it looked like this. A stage was set up at the opposite end of the room, and the lights were dim. Disco balls hung from the ceiling, and rock music blared through speakers standing on either side of the stage.

James touched my shoulder, and I jumped slightly.

"Sorry," he said, lips way too close to my ear for comfort, and a flash of heat overtook me. "I'm going to go grab a drink. You want anything?"

I shuddered at the feeling of his breath on my ear. "Um…water would be great."

"I'll grab you a bottle." And then he had pulled away and my little bubble of warmth had vanished unceremoniously.

I sighed, crossing my arms. Logan and Carlos were both swaying to the beat, in their own little world, and I shook my head.

James returned a couple of minutes later, holding two water bottles. He passed one to me and kept one for himself.

"Thanks," I said over the heavy drums, barely able to hear myself think, much less speak.

He gave me the thumbs up sign to show that he knew what I had meant. I smiled, laughing a little. I knew he couldn't hear me, but he grinned nonetheless, taking my hand and spinning me under his arm. I squealed, giggling as I whirled around in a controlled turn. He grabbed me by my waist, dipping me back, before pulling me back up. My hands immediately went to his shoulders to straighten myself out.

"Dizzy?" I was more aware of the way his lips moved around the word than him actually asking the question.

I nodded. "Yeah, a little."

He chuckled and leaned down so that he could speak directly in my ear, "I'll ask the next time I take you for a spin."

"Who says you need to ask?" I retorted. "Maybe I liked you taking me for a spin. The dizziness is all part of the thrill."

"Oh?" His breath was hot against my ear, but not in a disgusting way. There was something almost sexy about it, something that seemed to set my nerves on fire, something that made me grip his shoulders just a little more tightly.

"Yeah," I breathed out, feeling my fingers dig into his shoulders even more. "Sometimes you don't need to ask. Sometimes you should just do."

"Why do I get the feeling that this whole conversation has been one huge double entendre?"

I smirked, brushing my finger against his neck. "Probably because it has been. You want an innocent conversation?"

"And miss all the innuendos? Never."

My smirk widened and I adjusted the collar of his shirt, my fingers dipping into the V. "I thought not, Mr. Diamond. I knew you weren't innocent."

"And how innocent are you?" he asked, placing his hands on my hips.

"When it comes to you? Not innocent at all."

He opened his mouth, but at that moment the announcer came out to let us know that the band was about to go on.

The band was amazing live. The singer had one hell of a set of pipes, and the guitars, bass player, and drummer could work together beautifully. I was beyond impressed. And being there with James, Logan, and Carlos just made it even better. I danced with all of them, though James claimed me the most, and Carlos really got into the music, even moving towards the front where the mosh pit was. Logan kept back, but even he let loose, jumping up and down with his arms in the air and singing loudly to the lyrics.

During one of the few slow songs, James came up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist and I immediately leaned into him, placing my hands over his. I swayed with him, closing my eyes as I felt his body hard and firm against mine. I could do this all night. Screw that. I could do this for the rest of my life. And I didn't want the night to end. I just wanted to stay like this forever.

James' grip on me tightened slightly, and I knew he felt the same way. Because the second the concert was over, the second we were out of the hot, stuffy room with other hot, sweaty bodies, and outside in the cool night air, reality would come crashing back down around us. And I wasn't sure I wanted to face reality, because I didn't know what was going to happen once it hit. It was entirely possible that this would continue on and we would make things official, but it was also entirely possible that he would walk me to my car without even a hug goodbye. And I wasn't ready for the fantasy to end. I just wanted him to keep his arms around me for the next century, holding me close and singing in my ear, his voice even better than the singer's.

But then the band announced that they were only playing one more song, and James pulled back so that we had room to jump around and dance. The song began, and Logan bellowed the lyrics at the top of his lungs, while James and I jumped up and down like a couple of middle school kids hyped up on caffeine and sugar. Energy flowed through my body as I shouted the lyrics I knew along with the rest of the crowd.

The song eventually ended, and we shouted and stomped our feet for an encore, which, after some deliberate consideration, they agreed to perform. So we had one more round of jumping up and down like we were practicing for a bounce house while screaming at the top of our lungs.

At last, the song finished, and James, Logan, and I grabbed each other's hands, Carlos latching onto the human chain once he had emerged from the mosh pit. We managed to make our way back outside into the cool night air, gasping for breath like we had been suffocating.

I downed my water bottle, before holding the now warm bottle against my face in the hopes that it might cool me off. No such luck, but within a few steps I could feel my body temperature going down.

"Where did you park?" Logan asked me as we walked along the path, reaching a fork in the road.

I told him the name of the parking lot where my car was still residing.

"Ah, okay. Carlos and I parked in the other visitors' parking lot. So, I guess we're going our separate ways."

"Tonight was fun," Carlos piped up. "We need to do it again, and soon."

"We do," I nodded in agreement as I hugged him, and then Logan.

James fist bumped both of them, before turning to me as they headed off along the left fork. "I'll walk you to your car," he volunteered. "You never know what kind of freaks hang out around campus."

I smiled. "Sounds good."

We turned down the right fork, making our way along the path until we reached the parking lot. I led the way over to my car, and once I got there I spun around to face him. "Well…this is it…"

We had come to the moment of truth. My stomach twisted and churned anxiously as I looked up at him hopefully and he looked back at me, biting on his bottom lip.

Was that a good sign or a bad one? Why the hell didn't they have crash courses in reading boys' body language? This would be so much easier if I had more experience under my belt, but I didn't, so I didn't know if he was trying to figure out if it was okay to kiss me, or if he needed to let me down easy.

But then he hesitated, and I knew it wasn't going to happen. Disappointment washed over me, and I turned away, pulling my keys out of my purse, letting my hair swing into my face as best I could to mask the hurt and rejection I knew would be evident in my expression. "Right…um…thanks for tonight. It was fun."

Why the hell was he still standing there? I just wanted him to leave so that I could get in my car and burst into tears. I fully planned on spending the rest of the night with a pint of triple chocolate ice cream and sad movies, until I fell asleep and inevitably dreamed about what James and I could have been, but never would be.

"Katie." James' voice was soft and gentle, like the fleece blanket waiting for me at home. But I wasn't giving in. He didn't want me. He didn't deserve to speak my name like that, like he actually gave a damn. And maybe I was being overdramatic, but it had really felt like there was a mutual attraction between us. And now it turned out to be all in my head. I had psyched myself up so much and now it was all over. How the hell was I supposed to be okay with that?

"Just go," I snapped, my voice cracking. I fumbled with my car keys and they clattered to the ground. "_Fuck_," I muttered, dropping to my knees, but it was too dark. Even though I knew where they had landed, I still couldn't see them and I was a little afraid about what I might come in contract with if I felt around on the ground.

There was a sudden flash of light, and James kneeled on the ground as well, waving his phone over the area. "Flashlight app," he explained as the keys were illuminated. "It comes in handy sometimes."

"Apparently." I reached for the keys, but he snatched them up before I could grab them. "Hey! Get your own fucking keys!" I tried to snatch them out of his hand, but he held them above his head.

"No. Not until you listen to what I have to say."

I made a jump for it, but I missed by feet. "I – don't – want – to hear – what – you have to say!" Each word was punctuated by a jump and a sharp breath as I landed, keyless, again. "Damn it, Diamond! Give me my freaking keys!"

"No. You're listening to me and that's that." He shoved the keys in his jeans pocket.

I growled and lunged forward, but he grabbed me by the shoulders, backing me into the car and pinning me there.

"I'll scream," I threatened. "I'll scream and campus security will think you're trying to rape me or something."

"Fucking hell, you're stubborn," he mumbled.

"You know what they say. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. Now. Give me my fucking keys, damn it!"

"Not until you listen to me! Just calm down. Please," he added pleadingly when I opened my mouth furiously. "I want to explain myself."

I snorted. "Sure you do. Every guy wants to explain himself, right after he uses me."

"I'm not using you, Katie," he said softly. "I'm not like those guys. I like you. A lot."

"Then prove it!" I screamed. "You wanted to kiss me in your room. I could see it in your eyes."

"You know, I kind of feel like our roles have been reversed," he commented. "Isn't the girl supposed to be the one saying 'we need to slow down'?"

I shook my head, turning away from him. "Just say it, James. Say you don't want me."

"But that'd be a lie."

I glanced at him in disbelief.

"I _do_ want you. I just – okay, this is about me not kissing you, right?"

"I suppose," I said coolly.

"You're right. I did want to kiss you in my dorm room. And I _really_ want to kiss you right now. But I'm not going to. And it's not because of anything you've done. Look," he sighed, leaning against the hood of my car. "I was in serious relationship for almost three years. I haven't been with anyone else, not since middle school and can middle school really count?"

"Did she tell you she wants you back tonight?" I asked bluntly.

He nodded. "She did. And I told her no, because I don't want to be with her. The only girl I'm interested in right now is the one whose car keys I'm currently holding hostage. I have no interest in trying to rekindle something that's already dead and buried and rotting away."

"Okay. I get that part. What I don't get is why you don't want to start something with me."

"I don't want to start something with you _right away_," he corrected me, emphasizing the 'right away'. "Because I did just get out of a relationship recently, and we haven't known each other that long. And I'd kind of prefer to start a relationship with someone who I actually know relatively well. I don't even know what your favorite color is. I know I could probably just look it up online, but I'd rather hear it from you. I'd rather learn about you naturally, without feeling like we have to get to know each other overnight. I don't want that pressure. Does that make sense?" In the light of the parking lot's lamps, I could see his eyebrows knitting together worriedly.

I nodded. "It actually kind of does, which makes me like you even more because it actually shows that you're a decent guy who really does want something from me. And that just makes me hate you even more because now I'm going to have to wait. I'm not known for my patience. I'm a Pisces – Pisces are not patient people!"

"You're a Pisces?" he laughed. "Damn. You go by the Zodiac signs?"

"Not really. I mean, I agree with some of it, but I think other parts of it are complete crap. Why?"

He shrugged. "Well, if we went by our signs, we'd be pretty damn compatible. I'm a Cancer."

My eyebrows skyrocketed. "Really? Wow…I've always heard that Pisces and Cancers are really good matches. I don't know if it's true or not though."

"I guess we'll find out." He shrugged again. "It'll be interesting."

"It will be," I agreed. "I hear that Cancers don't fuck, they make love. Is that true?"

James smirked. "I guess you're just going to have to find out."

"Yeah, I'm going home now before you can make me forgive you even more. How the hell did you do that?! Usually when I'm mad, I stay mad."

"Special talent?" He dug my keys out of his pocket and dropped them into my outstretched palm. "Here you go. Drive safe. And text me when you get home."

"Will do," I agreed. "And by the way, I'll find something to stay mad at you about. You're not getting off that easily."

"I'm not getting off at all."

I shoved his chest. "You're not helping yourself, Mister."

"You want me to stop with the innuendos?"

"Ask me later when I can actually think straight. Because right now I'm torn between kneeing you in the stomach, and pushing you down on the car hood and having my wicked way with you."

"Yeah, you need to leave before my restraint completely fails."

I smirked. "It's nice to know I'm not the only one who's pissed about this."

"Not to mention cock blocked. Fucking Logan and Carlos…"

"Hey, you could kiss me right now if you weren't so set on being all prim and proper and doing the whole relationship-thing the right way."

"Sorry for being a gentleman?"

"You're not a gentleman. At least, not enough to keep from making suggestive comments to me."

He batted his eyes at me. "But I'll ask nicely before I take your clothes off."

"And I won't ask nicely. I'll just do it."

"Take my clothes off or yours?"

"Yours."

He gripped my shoulders, steering me towards the driver's side. "You need to go right now."

"Why? Am I driving you crazy?"

"Very quickly and very easily."

I grinned proudly.

"Drive safe, text me, and stop making me think about you ripping my clothes off."

"But that's no fun."

He grabbed my keys out of my hand and unlocked my car door. He opened it and pointed at the driver's seat. "You. In. Now."

I pouted. "You're not being very gentlemanly. Now you're being all demanding."

He responded with a glare.

I grinned and stood on my tip toes, reaching up to kiss his cheek fleetingly. "Just because you don't want to get into a relationship with me right away doesn't mean I have to make things easier for you. Night, James. Dream about me." And with that, I plucked my car keys out of his hand, grinned even more widely at the paralyzed look on his face, and climbed into my car, closing the door behind me. He jerked to life, retreating so that I could back out of the parking spot.

I waved before reversing, mentally grinning. Maybe tonight hadn't been a complete waste after all.

* * *

**So, anyone in the mood to cuss me out? Hopefully you guys liked the chapter! And if you did, please review and let me know! And as always, thank you for reading :)**

**Oh, one more thing: Jatieluv and I updated two of our stories for our JatieFantasy account: "5 Years" and "My Fake Boyfriend?". So if you haven't already, we would appreciate it if you checked them out! Thank you! *Hugs and cookies*.**


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